To Grasp At Quicksilver
by Ebony Mitsu
Summary: Love is discovered and betrayed, promises made and broken. The Kingdom was destroyed by broken hearts and shattered dreams. See through Sailor Puto's eyes as she examines what truely happened, and discovers that memories are as tangible, and as ethereal, quicksilver . . . . A Silver Millennium legend. E/S, Sen/Shi.
1. After the end, before the beginning

**Hey pplz! I'm back! I know i haven't uploaded or updated anything in a while and i feel kinda bad, so i decided to give you this ealier than i'd planned. This is a story i've been playing with for a while, and i've decided to present to you the prologue of my newwest creation, _"To Grasp At Quicksilver_". It's a Silver Millennium story, and yeah, i know there are tons out there probably, but i want to write one! The Pairings are as follows; SerenityxEndymion, SenshixShittennou, plus any side pairings i throw in for fun later on. See, i can do the traditional stuff after all :D Enjoy! ~Eb~  
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**Summary: A thousand years ago a great civilisation was destroyed by a great evil. Allies reached it too late to help, and could only wonder how this tragedy came about. Join Sailor Pluto as she peers into the Garnet Orb to discover just how things went astray. Love is discovered and betrayed, promises made and broken. The Kingdom was destroyed by broken hearts and shattered dreams. The story is uncovered from the mists of Time.  
**

* * *

**Prologue: After the End, Before the Beginning**

Sailor Pluto walked silently and sadly through what was once the main courtyard of the Silver Palace. Where once a fountain played and flowers bloomed and tall, luminescent white columns had stood now only rubble and shattered ruins remained.

So tragic, this loss of life. So sudden. So cruel. Just when so many hearts had found their way through darkness and into light, the darkness then tore at them once more.

Something blue lay near the fountain and she stopped to look.

Lady Mercury, her body broken and fragile-looking, surrounded by the pooled blue silks of her royal dress, delicate and frail. The broken remains of something made of crystal that was once undoubtedly very beautiful lay scattered near her hand, sparkling pitifully. She had not even had time to transform before she had been attacked and killed, only time to send warning to her fellow Senshi. The communicator she had used lay in pieces near the fountain, broken by an angry boot. Tear tracks still glittered on her pale cheek.

A few feet away stood the one that had slain her, encased in ice as Lady Mercury's final act in life. The look of sheer outrage and surprise on Zoicite's face was almost comical, and Pluto would have smiled had it not been for her dead comrade lying close by.

Pluto shook her head sadly and moved on, knowing that there was nothing she could do. Even though she was the Senshi of Time, she could not reverse death.

She found Uranus in the gardens, kneeling over a body dressed now in an emerald gown. She didn't even need to see the auburn hair to know that it was Sailor Jupiter, defeated in battle. She grasped the blade of a sword in her hand that was not her own, and her blood stained the grass crimson. The gown was torn and tattered, the ribbon which once wound around her slender neck hung in the hand of the man that had once been her lover. Pluto knew that the sword had been both their deaths, for she had a raw red wound in her stomach and he smoked; she had used the metal to conduct her lightning.

Uranus stood, all cool composure and careful neutrality. But Pluto saw beneath it, for she knew her comrade's secret, and she knew that Uranus had been crying even if there was no trace of tears now. Grieving for the one lost to her by the mistake of others and now taken by darkness.

"She killed him as she lay dying." Uranus reported, her voice as devoid of emotion as her face, though her eyes burned silver, and there was barely a trace of their usual blue. "I arrived in time to see her transformation die."

Pluto nodded, understanding; the young woman had finally died mere minutes, maybe even seconds, before Uranus had found her. Uranus had reported that she had been leaving for the Moon Kingdom a few hours after the attack. The Outer System had been dealing with other problems at that time and so had not been able to assist until all was lost and it was too late.

"Neptune has gone for Saturn." Uranus added. "She took one look at the state of the Kingdom and left."

Pluto walked on and Uranus followed close behind, not wishing to see the fallen woman in the garden any longer.

They found Lady Mars on the staircase in the ballroom. She lay on the steps near the left hand railing, her red gown spread beneath her, violet head turned to the side. On the opposite side of the staircase a few feet down lay the General Jedeite, blackened and burned on one side. She had been stabbed in the breast. Uranus surmised that Lady Mars must have struck her killing blow when Jedeite wiped his sword on her gown. Her hair, dark violet that looked almost black, covered her face. The two Senshi looking at her knew that she had cried in her final moments.

Lady Venus lay inside the throne room, long blonde hair fanning out around her, her gown tattered and bloodied, tears streaking the dirt on her face. Her eyes were open, lifeless blue, the lilac tints gone in death, staring glassily at the silver-haired Malachite. There was only sorrow on her face. His sword still dug into her side. Her chain-whip lay in her hand and was still wrapped around the throat of her assailant. The move had cost her, for it would have surely torn her wound open further. She could have survived, possibly, if she hadn't taken him into sweet oblivion with her.

"Why would they do this?" Uranus whispered, staring down at the fallen leader of the Inner Senshi, a mixture of confusion, horror and grief stinging her eyes. Her voice rose now, an unusual thing in the one who was always impersonal."What evil compulsion had them in it's grip for them to do this? The last time I saw her she was safe and happy in his arms!"

Pluto looked at Uranus again before looking towards the thrones, knowing why the anger was in Uranus' voice and who she referred to.

"A being our Queen believed destroyed." she whispered.

Together they moved on.

They found the Queen, the Princess and the Prince in the next set of gardens. Queen Selenity lay draped on a fallen pillar, the Moon Wand fallen from her hand to the floor and the Imperial Silver Crystal hovered over her, glowing white, gathering the energy to grant the Queen's last wish.

Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion lay on the grass near the roses and a fountain, still holding on to each other. Even in death the Princess looked pure, untouched by anything, although her ethereal glow had faded with her life. Endymion still held her protectively. Neither had a mark on them, for they had been killed by raw magick and not by a weapon as had most of their guards. Tears still leaked from the Princess's eyes. Even in death they had not been separated.

"The Crystal will begin its work soon." murmured Pluto, staring up at the sky and the Earth. Terra, the place where this madness had begun.

"I have returned." the soft, almost musical voice, a sweet song that hid an arctic ocean behind it, announced Neptune's arrival. The Ocean Senshi stood there now in the doorway from which Pluto and Uranus had just come. In the shadows behind her something glinted ominously.

"Good, the Crystal will begin soon." Pluto motioned for the one hidden by shadows to step forward. Sailor Saturn, Senshi of Destruction and Rebirth, held the Silence Glaive in her hands. "You know what to do." Pluto told her.

The younger woman nodded and shifted the Glaive's position so that it stood upright, her eyes on the Crystal, her face impassive. It would fall to her to ensure that the Crystal's task succeeded.

"I must return now to the Chronus Gateway, to await the future." Pluto said. She placed a hand on Uranus' and Neptune's shoulders. "I am sorry." she whispered. "If I had seen these events sooner . . ." they nodded grimly and she turned now to Saturn. "I will see you all in a thousand years."

Saturn turned her light purple eyes to Pluto, the amethyst orbs mostly blank. She nodded solemnly and focused once more on her task.

Pluto turned and vanished.

Neptune and Uranus watched Saturn and the Crystal now, standing quietly, awaiting their inevitable fate. They knew their duty and would fulfil it regardless. They would awaken with the Inners, a second line of defence. They would await the future.

The Crystal's glow intensified suddenly and bodies everywhere began to glow, either to fade or to rise. Those that faded went to some dark realm, to be imprisoned for their crimes. Those that hovered in the air awaited the moment of their salvation from the tragedy of this life, for they would be sent into the next. Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, Lady Venus, Lady Mercury, Lady Mars, Lady Jupiter, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, the two Lunarian Advisers who had stood silently and watched the four Outer Senshi with sad eyes. All rose and in a sudden flash of light faded into time. Some of the rest faded into oblivion. The others faded into what for them would be a thousand years in limbo until light would return for them again.

Saturn let the Silence Glaive fall. It struck the cold stone with a ring of finality.

Pluto returned to the Chronus Gateway and wiped away a solitary tear. She must not cry for them, for they would live on in another life.

But what had happened now? She had been busy helping to defend her home world from an outside invader, as had Neptune and Uranus. She had returned to the Time Gates in time to see the final battles being played out in the Garnet Orb and, horrified, had contacted the others. Uranus had left first with Neptune, and then she had followed. But it had been too late. As they had sped past using the Star Dust Paths between the planets of the Silver System they had felt each Inner Planet die. Already they were becoming wastelands incapable of supporting life. Soon their own worlds would follow.

She looked into the Garnet Orb to watch the events unfold in their entirety.


	2. Birthdays & Mysteries

**Chapter One: Birthdays and Mysteries  
**

Princess Serenity sat before her vanity, staring at her reflection. Another night, another ball. Another night of men vying for her attention and affection. Another night of endless pleasantries and endless small talk. Another night of two-faced courtiers looking out only for themselves and their fortunes. An endless round of etiquette, girlish laughter, being a trophy on some man's arm.

She sighed. Honestly, she could never understand the compulsion.

Serenity knew that she was believed to be beautiful, and in a way she believed and knew it too. With her long, silver-blonde hair and large, jewel-blue eyes and fair porcelain skin she was a slight and ethereal creature. Her eyes always seemed to laugh, her cheeks tinted faintly pink, fair and slim and petite. Many called her an angel.

Only a very few realised that there was another, darker side to the beautiful, bright, naïve princess of the White Moon. Her mother knew, and that was why her guard and court lived most of their time on the Moon in the palace with her, and they knew as well. But they could not help, and so they mostly let her be.

She blew bangs from her eyes and sighed again. Tonight was going to be so _boring_, even if it was her sixteenth birthday.

A tap at her door. "Princess, are you ready?" it opened to reveal a blonde dressed in orange velvets and silks and gauzy yellow satins, all imported from her home world, which was famous for its art and clothing. The young woman was the Venusian Princess, Mina, the leader of the Inner Senshi, Serenity's personal court. "We have been asked to escort you down tonight."

"Yes, I am ready." Serenity rose from her seat and twirled a little in the middle of her spacious bedchamber so that the light garments of her skirt floated around her.

"You look beautiful Princess, as always." Mina smiled and curtsied.

Serenity returned the smile and nodded. Everyone always told her that. "Shall we go?" the two girls walked out of the Moon Princess's chambers.

Lady Mercury waited for them in the hall outside. "Lady Mars and Lady Jupiter are waiting by the entrance." she explained in her demure voice.

Mina, Lady Venus, nodded, accepting it even if it went against her orders a little. No doubt the two were surveying those already in attendance, working out who they would have to bodily throw out when Serenity arrived.

Lady Mercury was the Mercurian Princess, the daughter of King Hermes and Queen Peitho. She was as petite as her sovereign princess, and almost as fair, with eyes several shades darker that resembled sapphires and hair of the same colour. She wore a long gown of blue silk with a paler colour trailing behind her. Like Lady Venus she wore a ribbon of her colour around her throat as well as a delicate gold chain with a tear-drop sapphire lying against her fair skin.

Lady Venus' ribbon was orange-gold, the jewel on the chain amber. Both girls wore delicate gold chains around their wrists with small beads set at intervals; ambers for Venus and light sapphires for Mercury. Serenity wore a similar pendent and bracelet set, only hers were pearl. Three pearls were in her hair on either side of her head as well.

The three girls walked down together, Serenity in lead, chatting to them amiably, the other two following behind and replying when it was polite to do so. The court of the Moon Princess were among those counted as close friends to Serenity, but rarely were they so friendly while in the company of others, reverting instead to the expected and more proper relationship of Princess and guards.

Lady Mars had just returned to the curtained entrance to the grand ballroom when they arrived. Her long dark violet hair fell in a shimmering curtain to her hips, a stark contrast against her fair skin and the scarlet and pale red gown. In her hair was a beautiful red flower, Serenity decided it was most likely Martian in its origin, and her pendent and bracelet were set with glittering rubies from Mars' finest mines.

"Jupiter is on the dance floor somewhere." she said bluntly. "Some noble whisked her away as we headed back here."

Serenity giggled and shared a conspiratorial wink with Venus.

Lady Jupiter had a fierce reputation as a warrior and was intimidating to most everyone by first appearance, but she wasn't as tough as she led everyone to believe. The others knew of her softer, more romantic side, which had come as a small surprise. As well as this soft, gooey interior, as Serenity seemed so fond of calling it however wrong it sounded – she was convinced Jupiter was like a chocolate brownie – Lady Jupiter was one of the finest dancers in the Silver Alliance, second only to her sovereign princess, as well as an outstanding athlete. Not to mention that, despite what the Jovian herself believed, she was actually rather pretty.

"Then let us go in, perhaps we can save her from certain boredom." Lady Venus winked and she and the other two left Serenity at the curtain to make her entrance.

Serenity took several deep breaths before she nodded to the announcer who was peering at her through the curtain, waiting for her cue. He nodded in return and stood straight and looked out over the sea of people gathered in the cavernous ballroom as Serenity made her silent and unnoticed appearance on his side of the veil.

"Announcing her royal highness, sovereign princess of the Silver Alliance and daughter of her gracious majesty the sovereign Queen Selenity, Princess Serenity of the White Moon Kingdom!"

Heads turned and murmurs drifted lazily through the air as Serenity began her slow, graceful descent down the sweeping staircase. She could see standing near the bottom of the stair her court of four, Venus, Mercury and Mars having retrieved Lady Jupiter from whatever aristocrat had caught her.

When she reached the bottom of the stair the people bowed to her, and she curtsied in return, though her dip was shallower, before making her way through the parting sea of guests to her seat at her mother's side. Queen Selenity wasn't much taller than her daughter, and her hair, while silvery, had a lilac tone to it, her eyes more grey, with a glow much like Serenity's delicate luminescence.. She was the one woman whom Serenity thought of as truly beautiful.

Once the Moon Princess was seated beside her, Selenity stood and addressed the guests. "As you all know, today is my daughter's sixteenth birthday, and a special day for any young lady. But tonight, it is all the more important, for starting tonight is when my daughter Serenity shall begin to choose a suitor for her hand."

There were more murmurings and the Inner Senshi discreetly made their way closer to their princess.

"Please, let the celebration continue." Selenity sat down again as the music struck up once more. She turned to her daughter, knowing her guards would hear, and spoke again when no aristocrats were listening in. "The Outer Senshi shall be attending tonight's celebration, we shall go out shortly to meet them off the Teleport."

Serenity nodded and continued to watch the dancers, her lovely face serene.

The Inner Senshi watched the celebrations for now also, rather than joining in. They were required to stay near the Princess until she allowed them to go.

"Lady Jupiter." the tall Jovian looked at her commander. "The Queen has informed me that she requires us to escort her and the Princess to the Teleport of the palace. The Outer Senshi shall be attending the festivities tonight."

Lady Jupiter nodded, her green eyes betraying what her face wouldn't show; curiosity.

The two Senshi teams of the Silver System were rarely together, the last time had been during a festival, when Jupiter and Mercury had almost literally run into Lady Uranus and Lady Neptune. The resulting race had exhausted the two more athletic members of the Silver Guard almost to the extreme. Both had been confined to bed rest for the remainder of the week, but, being Senshi, they had recovered rapidly. The race had ended in a tie.

When Selenity rose and gestured for her daughter to follow her the Inner Senshi followed them both. They walked silently through empty halls until they reached the teleportation pad in the first courtyard. It was glowing, meaning that there was an incoming party. Queen Selenity and Princess Serenity stood together several metres from the pad, before the entrance to the lunar palace. The Inner Senshi stood off to one side, not too close but near enough in case something went wrong.

The teleportation pad was not the only method of transport between the nine planetary kingdoms, though it was considered the fastest and usually the safest. The pad was a circular raised platform of a strange plasma-like substance on a metal alloy base, the plasma glowed a dull white and formed a solid surface when pressure was exerted upon it. It was operated by a co-ordinate base that stood a few feet from the pad itself, upon which where the controls to operate the system. This one linked only with a few locations, the Senshi Castles among them. Mercury knew how it worked, partly because the device had been invented on her home world, but the operating system merely confused the other three.

The humming of the pad increased and the glow brightened a little as several shapes began to materialise on the surface of the platform. Three women.

"The Outer Planetary Senshi." Whispered Venus to the others as they watched the three step from the platform, approach the Queen and the Princess and curtsy. Or bow, as in the case of Uranus. Venus pointed to each in turn, in case her comrades did not already know who each was. "Sailors Uranus, Neptune and Pluto."

"What about Saturn?" Asked Lady Mars, tossing deep violet hair back over her shoulder. "Why is she not present?"

"Do you not know?" Lady Mercury's voice was soft and demure, but at the same time cold, as always. "Sailor Saturn is considered too powerful and dangerous to take her place in the Outer Senshi team. She is feared by many for the strength she wields. Although she does have a place in the Outer Planetary System, she is kept in slumber within her castle until she is needed. Her power is viewed as only a last resort for the Silver Alliance."

Mars now looked over to the three young women barely much older than themselves. "Why? What's so dangerous about her?"

Venus answered, her deep blue eyes, tinted with lilac at the centre, serious and grave. "Sailor Saturn can destroy worlds."

Jupiter wasn't entirely listening to their talk, but rather was watching the older women talk briefly with the Queen. More specifically she watched Lady Uranus, the blonde. There was something about her that Jupiter recognised but couldn't place. Green-gold eyes narrowed in concentration, but the memory just wouldn't surface.

As though she sensed she was being watched, Princess Amara turned to meet Jupiter's gaze directly. The brunette didn't flinch, although that feeling of recognition increased somewhat irritatingly. The other three gasped a little at the mild staring contest, Queen Selenity and Princess Trista looked merely amused, Princess Serenity looked confused while Princess Michelle looked simply a little impatient.

The silver-blue eyes widened a little as though in recognition, but almost immediately returned to their cat-lazy state as though the surprise in them had never existed. She smirked and followed her sovereign Queen and Princess inside, followed by her two comrades.

"Jupiter, what was that about?" hissed Venus. The amazoness merely shrugged and, giving up for the moment, Venus led her team inside again.

They rejoined the party in time to see their Princess swept away by a young nobleman for a dance. Venus soon followed, partly because she couldn't resist the young man who approached her and partly to keep an eye on the young heir to the White Moon throne.

Soon enough another young man approached Mercury, in the hopes of dancing with her, but the blue-haired young woman, famous for being an ice princess in almost literal terms, ignored him until he turned instead to Lady Mars, who allowed him to lead her along.

"I forget sometimes how much you hate crowds." Jupiter said, her tone revealed she was amused.

Lady Mercury turned cold blue eyes to her and then back again, to where she could see Venus' blonde head spinning through the throng. "It is not that I hate this sort of situation, Lady Jupiter, merely that I am uncomfortable."

"Doesn't it mean the same?" a smirk played with the Jovian's lips. When the Mercurian merely gave her an irritated glance she chuckled. "I'm not that into parties either. I used to sneak off as a kid."

"And what did you do?" Jupiter didn't often talk about her childhood, mostly because, as she had once admitted to them, she couldn't remember half of it. Jupiter was the eldest of the Inner Senshi, followed by Mars then Venus. Mercury was youngest, although Serenity was even younger.

The pattern fit all the Silver Alliance Crown Princesses. The closer to the sun, the younger the girl. Serenity was the exception to the rule.

Jupiter chuckled again. "Trained with the soldiers." she moved away then, and Mercury followed the auburn head until it became lost in the sea of guests.

The Lady Jupiter was something of a puzzle to Amelia. Whereas Lady Mercury, like all from her planet, tended to follow cold logic rather than heated emotion, Rosalita survived almost purely on instinct. The taller woman had openly admitted that she wasn't anywhere near as smart as the renowned Ice Princess of Serenity's court, and that sometimes technology confused her, especially some of the things that Amelia used in everyday life. She preferred to live by her instincts and emotions, sometimes openly mocking Amelia for her heavy reliance on complex computer systems and cold hard data. The retort was always something about Jupiter's apparent barbarism and adherence to older ways of life, the idea of living and dying in constant battle, something that Rosalita would alternately react to with an indifferent shrug, a smile or just plain anger.

The problem with the latter was that she was very strong for a young woman. But then, she was a Senshi.

In the same way Amelia was a puzzle to Rosalita; the Jovian had no idea how someone could live and act solely on the reliance of technology and data, reacting only to simulations, coming to a decision based solely on long, complicated analysis that often took days to reach a conclusion. She believed that the planet Mercury was cutting itself off from the real world by enveloping itself in technology, simulations and virtual analysis and found it a weakness belonging to the race that Amelia represented.

The Mercurian was just thinking this through when something caught her eye. A young man with long, wavy, honey-blond hair up in a ponytail wearing a dark tunic and trousers, carefully embroidered with shimmering threads, that was standing nearby.

Now normally this wouldn't attract her attention; she had better things to do with her time than collect boys like Lady Venus did. However something about this young man in particular drew her gaze away from the colourful dancers. It wasn't his dark clothes; many of the young men here wore dark colours, it was the fashion. Nor was it the fact that he wore a dark, glittering mask; everybody here wore masks, it was part of the theme for the Princess's birthday ball, only Queen Selenity, Princess Serenity, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter weren't wearing theirs yet. No, Amelia got the feeling that he didn't want to be seen.

Watching him now she realised he seemed to be looking for someone, or rather was watching a particular person. She tried to follow his gaze but thought she was mistaken; it seemed to lead her to the Princess and that couldn't be right. Then she realised that he wasn't watching her Princess, but rather the young man who was moving towards her ready to engage her in a dance.

That would explain it; he was a guard for some visiting dignitary. Mercury tried to put him from her mind.

Except that there were no foreign dignitaries in attendance that she knew of.

Her gaze moved to him once more, sharply this time rather than slowly. Who was he? So far as she could tell there was no insignia on his forehead that would identify him to her. Then again the mask would cover it up. And she didn't get the sense from him that he was Venusian, which his hair seemed to identify him as, nor as Uranian or Lunarian. Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Pluto all had darker hair as more common, Neptune was somewhere in the middle, but there was always a greenish tone.

Of course, there was Terra; its people had many different colours of hair and skin, many races on one world. But no, that was impossible surely, after all contact with Terra was forbidden and had been non existent for centuries. Besides, how in the universe would a _Terran_ get up onto the Moon? The idea was _laughable_; Terra was a rural planet that was far behind in technology, far inferior to its neighbours.

No, he couldn't be Terran. Amelia laughed at herself for even thinking it.

She looked to the crowds again. The young man had reached her Princess, intercepting her when her partner twirled her around by catching her hand and leading her away. Serenity seemed surprised but not uncomfortable. In fact, Amelia thought her face looked a little pinker.

Amelia reached a delicate hand up to her right ear and tapped her earring – a small tear-shaped Mercurian sapphire – lightly once with her middle finger. Her visor flashed into place across her eyes. Looking through the transparent light blue screen, which served both as eye protection and as a read out for her miniature hand-held computer, she was instantly presented with a stream of data on whatever she focused on.

She could clearly see that Serenity's core body temperature had risen by point-five of a degree, which indicated that she was either embarrassed or flustered. She suspected it was the latter. Now she turned attention to the mystery-man she had seen earlier, but he had vanished. Mouth hanging slightly open, Amelia tapped the earring once more to make the visor vanish and moved to the spot where he had stood.

Now she had a clear line of vision to her Princess and the man she danced with. The crowd had stopped to look at them but for a few people; Lady Mars and her companion still danced, as did Lady Jupiter who danced with a Jovian aristocrat. She could no longer see Lady Venus.

Lady Mars looked more annoyed by the second, her companion more amused. Amelia could only surmise that he was taunting her and that soon her fiery comrade's temper would flare. She got a similar vibe from him, a blond similar to Venus' hair, as she had from the man who had first caught her attention.

Lady Jupiter was trying to not lose sight of the Princess and her partner, for she looked at them and turned her head to follow them. She looked impressed, for her eyebrow was arched and a grim, appreciative smile had made its way to the corner of her mouth.

Princess Serenity was being twirled and lead expertly around the floor, her long silvery hair flowing like ribbons of pure moonlight and the skirt of her dress floating and swirling with her light movements. Her eyes had attained an odd shine as she either stared serenely if a little mistily at her audience when the young man twirled her or up at him.

Amelia sorely wished she could see his face, but it was hidden by a white mask, a contrast to his dark clothing.

Princess Raechal of Mars, however, was currently trying her hardest not to simply toast the insufferable idiot she had landed as a dance partner. She was proud to think that so far she had succeeded; how much longer that success would hold out for, however, she simply didn't know.

"You are looking very irritated, my lady." he flashed her a smile that was all amusement.

She nearly huffed, but settled instead for scowling up at him. "Do I? I can't imagine why that would be so."

Her sarcasm was ignored, turned aside by another smile. "Do you know what I think?"

"No, but I dare say you are going to tell me whether I want to know or not."

He winced with mock-hurt. "You wound me, my lady." then he smiled again, "But you are right. What I think, is that you need to relax a little."

"I am relaxed." she snapped. Why did this man vex her so?

"Are you? You feel a little tense to me." he spun her out and brought her back to him. "I think you should relax a little, let your guard down." he smiled a little more as though this should mean something then added: "You are very pretty, but you could be beautiful, if only you would smile."

Despite her anger Raechal could feel the faint blush that heated her cheeks. The anger melted to be replaced by something altogether more awkward and demure.

"Where are you from?" she asked. Her sixth sense was confusing her about this strange young man.

He gave her an enigmatic smile, his green-blue eyes glinting mischievously behind his mask. "From nowhere you would know, my dark and lovely lady."

There was a commotion by the balcony and a man looked around a pillar and beckoned to him. Serenity's partner looked to him as well before glancing at Raechal's dance partner. He kissed Serenity's hand, murmured something – he had been murmuring to her almost since he took her hand – and began to weave through the crowd.

"You must forgive my abrupt departure, my lady." the blond kissed her hand and winked. "Perhaps Fate would be kind to me and send your presence my way again in the future." he followed the other.

Raechal stared after him, as bemused for once as Serenity looked.

"Mars?" it was Jupiter. "Is everything ok? Who was he?"

Palace guards entered the room, scanned the bewildered crowds, and then left again.

"I don't know." Mars murmured. "He took my hand shortly after that one took Serenity's. He was constantly teasing me. I don't even know where he was from."

Shouts outside. Jupiter looked towards the balcony and then at Venus, who was talking with Serenity.

"You didn't get his name, his planet of origin, anything?"

"No." a sigh. "Oh Venus he was so . . ."

The Venusian looked at Jupiter and Mars and shrugged, as clueless as they were.

* * *

It was several hours later, after the ball had finished. The palace was quiet and peaceful, the night aglow with the light cast from the Moon's closest neighbour, Terra (our Earth). Serenity stood on her balcony in her long, filmy nightgown, gazing up at the planet of blue and green.

That world was always in sight, night and day, but it was less visible during the sunlight hours, appearing as a phantom in the sky to the Lunerians who gazed upon it. It had fascinated her since she had been very small, but Terra was a forbidden world, off limits to the Silver Alliance due to some quarrel between an ancestor of hers and one of Terra's past royals. Perhaps that was why it fascinated her so.

She knew that her mother was disappointed that she hadn't found a suitor at the ball, but it didn't matter much. There would be other times for that. Right now her thoughts were full of Terra, as they always were at night when she gazed up at the planet, but also of the young man who had danced with her and run off when the guards had arrived.

"_I am here on behalf of another kingdom, one which you know not even though you see it every day . . . . And what would your ideals be, Princess Serenity, for when you take the throne of your kingdom? . . . . Why? Because I wish to know if I have an ally for the future or whether my world's state of ignorance should continue."_

He had been . . . strange, she supposed. But his eyes . . . Serenity had never seen eyes like his, eyes like the midnight sky that were as deep as any ocean, intense, sad and hopeful all at once. She fancied that if she had run her fingers through his hair then it would be soft and silky, black silk. He had been strong, she had seen the muscles beneath the rich dark blue clothing, but with her he'd been nothing but gentle. Tender, even.

"_If you had the means to save your kingdom but not the power and needed the help, would you not seek an ally? . . . . Ah but your beauty belies your mind, Princess. You look as delicate as a butterfly, but I'd wager that you are as sharp as a knife, sharper than some may give you credit for. You are no fool."_

Serenity sighed and rested her chin in her hand.

A knock on her door. "Princess, is everything alright?" the voice was soft, the tone it used had an air of usually being of ice rather than the warmth it displayed now. The door to her bedchamber opened slowly and the Moon Princess made out short dark hair and pale skin. "You locked yourself away when you came back here." Amelia explained quietly, now dressed in short pale blue tunic and gold sandals.

Serenity offered her a warm smile. "I'm alright. I just felt like being alone for a while." She re-entered her own room and sat on the edge of her bed. "Mercury . . ." she stopped, looking at the floor and trying to think. She shook her head. "No, never mind. Don't worry about it."

Amelia watched her silently with eyes that right then were a little concerned. "What is it, Princess?" Her charge was dreamy, yes, and yes she could be a little naïve, but usually she had a heart of gold. Although she had an unnerving habit of manipulating people and sometimes Amelia didn't think she realised she was doing it.

Serenity looked up, her blue eyes seeming to glow in the earthlight. Overall Serenity looked as sweet and innocent as an angel.

The Mercurian decided that now was probably one of those times when Serenity didn't realise she was being manipulative.

"Could you do something for me?" Serenity asked, slowly, as though choosing and weighing her words carefully. "Without telling Venus or the others?"

Amelia went a little stiff. Venus was her commander and the thought of disobeying orders, regardless of what she sometimes thought of the Venusian, didn't sit well with her. Neither did telling an outright lie to anybody, which she sensed she would probably have to do.

As though she sensed her guard's desire to object Serenity hastily added, "I promise, it's nothing illegal, nothing dangerous. It's a simple task, but I want it finished quickly and you are the best person I can think of to do it."

Shaking her head – it was one of those times after all – Amelia replied "If it so simple and harmless why can I not tell anybody about it?"

"Because nobody would probably approve of it even though it is simple and harmless." Serenity smiled. "It's just a little fact-finding mission. Nothing enormous." she paused. "Well, mother might, perhaps, but I don't want to get her hopes up. Besides, using my intelligence officer to find out about this? They would say it was a waste of resources!" she gave a girlish laugh, silvery, feather-light.

Wary, Amelia watched Serenity for several long and silent minutes. Serenity stared right on back, willing her guard to listen to her and do as she asked. Sapphire blue stared into crystal blue, and it was the sapphire orbs that looked away in the end.

"Alright, I'll do it. But I am not happy about your willing me to secrecy." she took a deep breath. "What do want me to uncover?"

Serenity's smile lit up the room. "Thank you, Mercury, you have no idea how much this means to me. I knew I could count on you for this." When Amelia just stared at her coldly Serenity sat up straighter, and her tone changed from warm and friendly to cool and commanding. "The man I was dancing with tonight, the one who ran away when the guards arrived. I want you to find out who he is and where he is from."

Amelia ignored the sudden chill that shivered up her spine like some premonition. But that was absurd; Mars and Jupiter dealt with that sort of thing, Amelia only dealt with hard facts. Pushing away the ominous feeling and the thoughts of two more young men like the one her Princess had in mind, she bowed from the waist, one hand flat over her heart while the other fluttered out to the side. "As you wish, Princess." she turned to leave. "Goodnight."

Serenity watched her leave and when the door had closed behind Amelia with a quiet _click_, she rose and went out onto her balcony once more.

* * *

In her own rooms, Lady Mars knelt before the fire in the reception room of her suit, gazing into the flame that was both her blessing and her curse. Her pale brow was furrowed and her eyes narrowed, looking like twin storm clouds in an otherwise delicate face; fierce and observant.

She no longer wore the gown she had worn at the ball; now she wore a short tunic belted at her waist with a gold band with an intricate engraving, a short cloak flowed from her shoulders, clasped over her breast by a broach of gold set with a large oval ruby, around her throat a choker and on her feet sandals of gold. The cloth of tunic and cloak were pale red, the choker was darker in colour. Around each wrist a wide band of gold.

On Mars she was a Princess, but she was also a Priestess of the Flame by royal tradition. Only a few alive today had seen the fiery heart of Mars inside Mount Hephaestus, the path to the heart of the planet that one day she would have to tread. Only two others beside Raechal. Her father Ares and his cousin, Lady Keahi.

Since arriving on the White Moon several years ago at the age of fifteen Terran (and Lunarian) years she had only used her gift for fire scrying a few times. Each time had been rewarded with success.

But those times had been for her Princess's safety, and while now she could argue that she was concerned for her charge's safety, she also knew that it was her own curiosity. If she found anything out of vital importance she would inform Mercury, and let her deal with the facts. Raechal dealt mostly with impressions. The flickering flames gave her images, sensations and feelings.

A planet with a pure heart that was being consumed by darkness.

Pain. A lot of pain. Both physical and mental, perhaps even emotional.

Greed, or was it envy she could feel? It could have been both?

Hatred and love. No, love was too pure, this was more like . . . lust. She shuddered.

Tragedy and betrayal.

A moon eclipsed.

The strength of love. Sacred promises. Light battling darkness. Blue-green eyes, blond hair. Now the eyes became midnight blue, the hair black. Then steel and silver. Green and honey. Brown on brown. Red, yellow, blue, green and white.

All this and more that she couldn't cope with by herself flashed before her eyes, playing again and again in her mind like a distorted tape, flickering images.

Ice. The cold steel of a sword. Fire. Lightning. Too late . . . something about it being too late. Wheels already in motion. The darkness reaching skyward, extending tendrils of shadow to the moon, overpowering and eclipsing the light. Terra . . . something about Ter-

Lady Mars let out a scream as the images drowned her and she collapsed.

The fire died down a little, not much more than embers now.

The door to her chambers burst open and Lady Venus and Lady Jupiter rushed in, Jupiter held a ball of electrical energy in one hand and looked around to ensure that no intruder was present while Venus reached for her Martian comrade. The young woman's brow was beaded with sweat. With a gesture of her blonde head Venus asked Jupiter to pick her up and carry her to her bed. The Jovian complied, looking worried.

Venus let out a sigh and cast a quick, brief glance to the flame as though to ward off a chill before going out to fetch Mercury, wherever she was. If she had stayed and gazed into the fire's depths a little longer she would have seen a tongue of flame twist, tiredly forming one last image for any to see.

A single rose in bloom that wilted and died, only to bloom again.


	3. Wheels set in motion

**Chapter Two: Wheels set in motion**

"And you can remember nothing?" the silver haired Moon Queen was troubled by these events. She sat in a chair by the window, not looking at Lady Mars, who lay in an infirmary bed, and her grey-blue eyes were a slightly darker shade than normal.

Standing nearer to Mars, either looking at her or at their Queen, were the other Inner Senshi. All three stood to attention. Standing near enough to be a part of the conversation, but not close enough to be considered friends of the others, were the Outer Senshi, also standing to attention. They had not yet left for their bases when their sovereign queen called them to her again.

"No, my queen." Mars' voice was apologetic but practical at the same time. "Only vague feelings. A dark cloud hangs over this kingdom and all who are a part of it. There will be a betrayal and then . . ." Mars bit her lip, the violet eyes troubled.

Selenity seemed to rally herself to look at the Martian Princess. "And then . . . what?"

Holding her head high, refusing to look away from her queen, Mars spoke the words she dreaded. "This kingdom shall fall."

The grey-blue eyes darkened with sorrow even more. The six Senshi shifted uneasily.

"Mars, are you certain of this?" Venus probed gently. "I mean . . . I know you haven't been wrong before about anything important but there is a first time for everything."

The young woman lying in the bed, propped up on pillows, snorted. "I know it is the truth."

Mercury looked for a moment as though she wanted to speak, but she held her tongue.

Uranus, however, was not so tactful. "How do we know if this prediction is even accurate? And where would the threat come from? Another system? One of the Alliance planets?" she snorted. "In my experience divination of any kind is no substitute for cold, hard facts." her silver-blue eyes roamed over everybody. Mars looked neutral, a miracle since it was she the accusation was against. Venus was trying to think of a diplomatic way to counter the strike against her second-in-command. Mercury looked icy as always.

"Then you have never experienced Mars' talent for fire scrying." Jupiter responded, her eyes fierce but her facial expression cool. "It is not guesswork. She is connected to all fires through the Martian Heart, and she is gifted with a second sight, and so the flames tell her things. They whisper, and they always speak the truth. I'm sure," she added, somewhat testily, "that if you concentrated hard enough then the winds might tell you secrets also."

When Uranus took an angry step forward Jupiter smirked, Venus stood between the two of them and Neptune placed a hand coolly on the Uranian's arm. "Fighting will not help matters." she said, looking between the two aggressive Senshi irritatedly. "In fact fighting amongst ourselves will make things worse than they already are."

Uranus shook off the hand and turned away, muttering angrily.

"What we need," she continued, "is a little more detail. I gather you already know something of this and are not allowed to inform us of anything." this last was directed at Pluto, who nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"The future this time is shadowed even to me." she admitted. "I am not certain of what is to happen."

Neptune nodded and turned her attention to the Martian in the bed; she had expected it to be something like that. "Lady Mars, are you certain you remember nothing else?"

Closing her eyes the Martian concentrated, her brows furrowing. She got a sense of something. Something dark. But it escaped before she could be certain of what it was. "Not right now. Nothing else. Whenever I try to chase the images they fade and I cannot find them again."

Nodding, the aqua-haired Senshi looked to her queen, who had been silent throughout this exchange. Selenity was looking out the window again, a frown marring her faeren beauty.

Finally, Selenity stirred. "We will inform no one of this." she said quietly, looking at each person present with a grave and serious expression, eyes unfathomable. "Not even Serenity. Especially not my daughter, for there is no reason to frighten her. This event is probably quite a way off yet." she looked to Mars, who nodded uncertainly.

"We shall return to our bases immediately, your majesty," Uranus said, "so as to protect the system better from the outside should this force approach from there."

Selenity nodded. "You may leave."

The three Outer Senshi bowed and turned to leave, although Uranus hesitated before exiting through the door. Her eyes had shifted back to one of the younger women in the room, but Venus hadn't been able to tell which of them her attention had been focused on as the gesture had been too quick; emotions always passed over the woman's face and then disappeared too quickly for one to ever be certain of their appearance.

"I am going to return to my duties." Selenity announced suddenly, standing and looking at Mars once more. "I want to be informed the moment any more details return to your memory, however small they are, am I understood?"

"Yes, your majesty." Mars inclined her head; she couldn't bow.

"Lady Mercury," the bluenette snapped to attention, her expression still distant, "I want you to complete regular scans of the Silver System. Luna and Artemis will help you with the task. You shall have full access to the computer systems."

The petite woman nodded, still looking into the distance.

"Lady Jupiter, since you and Lady Venus are due to leave for your own kingdoms by the end of the week I will ask this of you; keep a watch for anything suspicious. We do not know what direction this darkness will be coming from. Though I hate to think of it it could be from within the System itself, and I would like you to keep an eye on your kingdoms. The others shall do the same for their own."

Although unhappy with the request, they both nodded grimly.

The three Senshi standing bowed to their queen and she left them to talk amongst themselves.

"She seems on edge." Jupiter observed once she was certain Selenity was out of ear-shot.

"She is worried for her kingdom, of course she is on edge." Venus responded grimly. "Any of us would be like this in her position. We've just informed her that the Silver System is doomed to fall, how else do you expect her to react? Sing?"

Jupiter snorted, but said nothing.

"I'm going to go make a start on the scans." Mercury said quietly, standing up and walking out without another word.

Lady Mars watched her go, feeling as though there was something she needed to tell her, something very important, but something she couldn't remember. It was very frustrating.

"We have duties as well." Venus conceded. "It is our turn to patrol the palace perimeter." she looked at Mars. "Although you are in no state for that."

"I'll take her place." Jupiter volunteered. "I'd only be doing nothing otherwise."

Venus nodded and returned her gaze to her second-in-command. "Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" the woman's collapse of the night before had unnerved her somewhat; Mars had never collapsed like that during a fire reading before. To Venus it felt like some kind of ill omen.

Mars nodded. "I'll be fine. Focus on protecting the Princess, not on me." she scolded lightly.

Venus offered a half-smile and left. Jupiter nodded to the Martian and left too. Mars realised that now she was alone she could only think or sleep.

With a yawn and a stretch, Lady Mercury pushed back her chair and stood. The glowing blue screen in front of her dimmed considerably, and with a snap of her fingers the lights came on. She shielded her eyes against the new light briefly, allowing her eyes to adjust, then sighed and left the room, walking down the corridor at a leisurely pace.

She was once more dressed in the pale blue belted tunic and golden sandals that revealed her to Lunarians as a member of the Imperial Guard, more specifically the legendary, highly trained warriors that guarded the heir to the Lunarian throne.

It was dark outside, the corridors lit softly by the earth-light trickling through the windows. No one else was abroad in these hallways at this time, and she enjoyed the quiet, secluded peace the opportunity gave her, savouring it before returning to her wing of the palace, the place she shared with her comrades and her Princess. The Senshi's home away from home.

She had completed the first major scan of their system and nothing seemed amiss. The output data was more or less what she would expect it to be, after comparing it to similar reports completed during one-off inspections and sweeps. Amelia of Mercury felt a contentedness at the fact that everything seemed right with her world.

She frowned, thinking of her other mission. The one given to her by Princess Serenity. Truth be told she had no idea how she was going to complete it. She supposed she could maybe access the viewing crystals from the ballroom and go over the video feed from that night, then armed with proper images of the party crashers, as Venus had called them, she could do a search on their identities using their appearances and what she could recall and see of their clothing. It could work. But only if there was a decent image of the young men themselves. If not she would have to go with the clothing; after all the three of them had been together, that much was obvious, so they were likely to come from the same world.

Yes, she decided, that could work nicely as a starting point. Thank the stars she had her personal miniature super computer at her disposal, and the visor would come in handy with this task too. She could use it to better isolate the components she wanted to search for.

Amelia paused when she reached the hall at the bottom of the main staircase in their wing. It lead up to Princess Serenity's chambers, and was deep in the heart of the Senshi's wing of the palace. She had already passed Jupiter's set of chambers. Her own were at the other end of the hall on the same side of the corridor. Mars' rooms were opposite her own, Venus was opposite Jupiter.

This particular corridor was very long, and there were no more for several minutes worth of walk, for the Senshi suits were very large in standing with their ranks as royalty. In fact, you had to journey to a whole other wing of the palace to find another corridor, for they took up the entirety of this part of the building. All four suits had absolutely stunning views of the Sea of Serenity that surrounded the palace – located on its own island and connected to mainland by a long driveway of land – and for which their sovereign Princess was named.

She could hear singing, very faint and sweet, drifting down the stair upon the currents of air, accompanied by the soft music of a harp. She allowed a small, tired smile to drift across her eyes and lips. Her Princess was singing and playing her harp, and there was no sweeter sound as Serenity had a wonderful talent for her harp and an angelic voice. Amelia listened for a couple of minutes, trying to catch the song she was singing; it seemed to be a Lunarian love song but she couldn't be sure without getting closer.

Instead of investigating she retired to her rooms for the night. Her sleep, while restful, was filled with dreams of green eyes and honey-blond hair lit by sunshine on a not too distant world.

* * *

"I don't believe you two!"

Zoicite and Jedeite winced; Malachite could be very loud when he wanted to be. And oh, how he wanted to be right now.

They had managed to avoid being missed the day before somehow; they weren't sure how the miracle happened exactly. Their Prince, Endymion of the Golden Kingdom, had persuaded them to go exploring with him.

_Persuade_ was code for 'threatened to go without a guard', which would have meant that Malachite would have killed them rather than stand there and yell at them.

"I'd expect this from _him_," Malachite jerked his head towards Jedeite, who looked mock-hurt by the hurtful tone of voice, "But I'd have thought you'd have more sense."

Nephrite had reported that he had found something in the ancient ruins in the forest. When the Earthen Prince had his loyal guards had investigated further they had discovered something odd in the ruined palace; a raised platform with dusty grey gooey stuff that formed a solid surface when Endymion – much to the others' dismay – had rashly stepped onto it.

Zoicite firmly believed that Endymion was going to be the death of him one day.

It had been Zoicite who had worked out what it was. Being the scholar of the four Shittennou had advantages; he had access to ancient texts that few knew how to translate. He could read them. He'd come across this device once and he only remembered when he saw the control base standing nearby. It was a Teleportation Pad.

A little rashly – Jedeite this time – the controls had been pressed. The platform had taken them to the location of the last co-ordinates.

The Lunar Palace.

Cue trouble.

The Moon had been forbidden to the peoples of Earth a long time ago, a thousand or so years in fact. But it had been so long that the peoples of the Silver Alliance had become a myth. The inhabitants of Earth believed that they were the only life their system had to offer. Oh how wrong they had been.

" . . . completely irresponsible . . ."

But he had never expected to be met with such beauty as he had seen in that room.

". . . could have gotten yourselves killed! What would have happened if the Prince had been killed? We'd have been executed for treason!"

A cough to one side; Nephrite was standing in the doorway. "Malachite, while I'm inclined to agree with you, hadn't you better calm down before somebody hears you and we all get killed for treason?"

Nephrite and Malachite were the quieter members of the group, though Malachite was sterner. Zoicite could be quiet when he wanted to be, Jedeite couldn't sit still. With a head-strong Prince to look after, however quiet Endymion could be, it made for an interesting life.

Malachite snorted and stalked off, leaving the other two to sigh in relief.

Nephrite turned to them, his brown eyes serious and grave, like always. "I trust you two won't be getting into any more trouble today?" when the two youngest of the Shittennou gave a wary chuckle he allowed a small smile to form on his lips. "Where is Endymion?"

Jedeite shrugged. "Rose gardens? He was acting odd when we got back."

That elicited a small frown. "Odd how?"

It was Zoicite who explained. "Dreamy, absent-minded, weird, unmanly." he shrugged too. "I think he's bewitched."

The brown-haired Shittennou chuckled. "It certainly sounds like it. I'm surprised that you, Zoi, have no clue as to how and why."

"I can't be expected to know everything." another shrug.

"Maybe," Nephrite said to him, "but I'm amazed that in all your reading you never discovered that which vexes all men." with that said he exited the room again to find their Prince.

Zoicite looked a little bewildered. "That which vexes all men? Where on Earth does he come up with these things?" Besides, he wasn't vexed, or bewitched, and neither was Jedeite.

_Jewel-blue, rippling silks, skin as delicate as apple blossom . . ._

He hastily shook the image from his mind.

His brother and comrade, meanwhile, was laughing at him. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that Nephrite would know more than Zoicite." he teased.

"Nephrite can speak with the stars, I only know what I find in books and _human_ knowledge." he sniffed. "He has paranormal means to get his information."

"I'd hardly call star-speak paranormal." Jedeite persisted. "You should listen to him sometimes when he talks to them. It all sounds like rubbish and even he can't make sense of it half the time." he poked the younger man in the side, causing a strange squeak to escape Zoicite. "Funny, you sound just like the thing you hate most."

"Oh shut _up_, Jedeite." Zoicite said angrily, marching out the room. The last thing he needed right now was more taunting on his fear of rats and mice.

Nephrite, meanwhile, was trying to find Endymion. He had already searched the royal libraries, discovering in the process that Endymion had missed his lessons that morning, the kitchens, the Prince's chambers and the training rooms. Now he was willing to take Jedeite's not-so-serious suggestion and was on his way to the Rose Garden, the Prince's personal garden and sanctuary.

He passed through an archway overgrown with well-tended roses with the most magnificent blood red double blooms and came out into a decently sized, well tended, hedged in plot of garden. Endymion's beloved Rose Garden, the Prince's own creation. It never failed to bring Endymion's four guards to peace.

As Jedeite had predicted, Endymion was tending to the roses.

"Your highness," Nephrite spoke quietly, always feeling that to speak loudly in this place was somehow a desecration of something sacred, "I was sent to find you."

Endymion nodded and _hmmm_'d, but made no other move to acknowledge Nephrite.

"Malachite was worrying you'd run off again."

Now the Earthen Prince looked up. "Really? Why?"

"Well, you vanished yesterday with Jedeite and Zoicite." Nephrite told him. Then his voice changed, became sterner. "You should not have acted so rashly, sire. It was reckless of you. If anything had happened to you-"

"You four would have come under immediate suspicion." Endymion interrupted him smoothly, never raising or lowering his tone. "I know. And I'm sorry for putting you at risk like that, but the opportunity was too much to resist." he winked. "And it was worth it. Imagine it, Nephrite, whole other worlds are out there, worlds so different and exotic yet at the same time they are so similar to Earth! The people look just like us!"

Nephrite only half-listened as his Prince rambled on; the stars had told him of similar things using half-whispers and vague, soon-to-be-forgotten dreams. They had also shown him vague and shadowy images of a young woman, but as always, no matter how hard he tried to recall a single feature, he could never remember her. He was just left with a vague impression of emeralds against darkness.

He awakened to reality once more when he realised his Prince was watching him oddly and had long since stopped speaking. "Forgive me, sire, I was miles away."

"I can see that." Endymion sat back on the soft green grass and patted the ground beside him. His Shittennou weren't just his guards; they were also his friends and his brothers. "Sit with me, Nephrite, tell me what troubles you."

Nephrite did as asked and sighed, cloud-gazing for a moment. "I have a bad feeling, your highness."

"What about?" Endymion asked casually; he knew better than to dismiss Nephrite's emotions and feelings out of hand. Nephrite was the eyes of the Shittennou.

Nephrite opened and then closed his mouth. His Prince waited patiently, allowing him to sort out his thoughts and feelings. "I can't help but feel that something bad will happen." the brunet said finally.

The raven-haired Prince nodded slowly. "Nothing more than that?" his midnight eyes burned into Nephrite's brown orbs. "There is nothing else on your mind?"

Nephrite shook his head slowly, but Endymion saw the hesitation behind the movement. He said nothing of it, knowing that Nephrite would tell him in his own time. The brown-haired Shittenou probably couldn't even put it into words yet.

"Your highness?"

The two men turned at the feminine voice from the archway. A young woman only two years younger than the Prince's twenty stood there, looking a little awkward, in a long black gown that set her light red hair aflame.

"Your highness, your father sent me to find you. He wishes to speak to you in the throne room." she said with a curtsy, her eyes never leaving the grass at her slippered feet but to dart quickly and frequently at the Prince.

Endymion smiled and stood. "Thank you for the message, Lady Beryl. I shall go to him at once." he turned to his friend and guard to help him up. "Thank you for your telling me this, my friend." he told Nephrite, placing a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "I will take your concerns into account."

Nephrite bowed and the Prince nodded and left, inclining his head to the woman as he passed her. Beryl's eyes followed him until he was hidden by castle walls.

"Beryl, your obsession is not healthy." Nephrite's words were not harsh, but there was a warning in them.

The red head looked around at his voice and stared at him for several seconds, then she laughed and turned away again. "I do not know what it is you are talking about, Lord Nephrite." she replied lightly, removing a fan from her small drawstring bag and fanning herself with it.

"Oh but you do." Nephrite caught up with her, walking with her for the moment. "And I can promise you it will get you nowhere."

She laughed again, a silly and high-pitched sound that irritated him. "My father already opened up negotiations with the King, Lord Nephrite, and King Oberon seems to find the idea of his son marrying me appealing." she gave him a sly glance out the corner of one dark eye. "I told you before, I always get what I want."

"Well this time you won't." he said bluntly, coming to a stop. She stopped to and looked at him, her face darkening with every word he spoke. "You will not have him Beryl, ever. The Earth will spin a million times and you and I will have long since died and been reborn, and still you won't have him. His heart will belong to another. It already might. This much the stars have told me, and they never lie. Give it up, Beryl, for you will only pine forever if you don't."

The Shittenou walked away, leaving Beryl alone on the patio glaring at his retreating back as she snapped the fan closed again and gripped it hard.

_'You think so, do you? Well, I shall just have to see about _that_.'_ she thought angrily, glaring at the ground and twisting her fan in her hands. She blinked the bitter sting of tears from her eyes and nodded in reply to her own thoughts.


	4. Discovery

**Chapter Three: **

Jupiter and Venus both made a low bow to their Princess and fellow Senshi. All were stood before the teleport platform in the courtyard, for it was time for the two to return to their own kingdoms.

"Please send our fondest wishes to your families." Princess Serenity said, quickly embracing the two women. They returned the embrace awkwardly.

"We will, Princess." Venus promised her.

"Try not to get into too much trouble ok. And don't run poor Mercury ragged like you did last time." Jupiter added.

Serenity giggled. "I will try to go easy on her." the Moon Princess had a love of exploring, and last time had resulted in her going missing in the city.

Venus had already stepped onto the platform; as they were headed to different destinations they had to be sent one at a time. They could choose to go via the stardust paths instead, but neither woman was willing to go the long way this time. Besides, last time Venus had been more than a little tipsy and had nearly fallen off. And using the Sailor Teleport took a lot of power and energy; it was easier with more of them as the cost was shared, alone they would be exhausted by the time they reached their homes.

The attendant finished what he was doing with the controls and nodded at the blonde. "Lady Venus, it's ready."

"Thank you." she turned back to face forward again and the attendant flicked a switch. The platform glowed, dully but brighter than it had been, and Venus faded from view in a white-ish glimmer.

"Lady Jupiter, your turn."

"I know, thank you." the tall woman stepped onto the platform next. She took a deep breath – she didn't enjoy travelling via this contraption – and nodded to the young man who flicked the switch without warning her. The last thing they saw of Jupiter was her scrunching up her face.

Mercury shook her head when the pad returned to its usual grey-white appearance. "I keep telling her that the Teleport is perfectly safe. The odds of something happening to her during transit is a few hundred thousand to one. She never believes me."

The Moon Princess giggled. "I think it's cute, she prefers to travel by her own power."

"It's barbaric!" Mercury responded huffily. "The mechanics of the platform are perfectly safe. She's made the journey a hundred times over since she became a Senshi and yet every time she screws her eyes shut. I don't see the point. You don't see anything while being transported." the bluenette sighed.

Mars rolled her eyes. "Just because she doesn't trust the technology a hundred percent like you doesn't mean she's a barbarian. Yes, the Jovian Kingdom is mostly made up of tribes, nomadic and settled, that gather beneath King Zeus, and ok, some of them can be a little uncivilised, but Jupiter isn't like them. She's a member of her planet's royal family for the heavens' sakes." she paused then added, "Besides, I agree with her that you trust technology far too much."

"I agree with Mars." Serenity added before Mercury could retort, frowning slightly. "Jupiter is more than you give her credit for Mercury. She's the strongest member of the Inner Court and her instincts are usually spot on. Remember that nobleman your father wanted you to marry?"

Mercury looked away; she despised talking about the creep that had only been after two things – her crown and her body. "It is horrific that my home world could ever produce such a cretin."

"Exactly, but she took an instant dislike to him." the Princess persisted as they walked along halls to return to their wing. "She knew from the start that he was worthless and shady and tried to protect you from him."

Mars snorted. "Yeah, like that time he snook into Mercury's rooms after the ball and Jupiter climbed up the vines and dragged him back out again."

This brought a small smile to the petite Senshi's eyes. The man had been literally dragged by his wrist past guards who just looked on in amusement and didn't heed his calls for help, past the Queen and Princess, into the courtyard and handed over to a guard that Jupiter had personally trained with Venus to be dealt with, then the brunette had walked away dusting her hands. No matter how much he had tried to free himself from her grasp – the grip of one hand even – he hadn't been able to dislodge her fingers and had been left

with bruises.

"My point," Serenity continued, trying to hide her smirk at the memory of the man appealing to her and her mother for them to control the amazon, "Is that she is a vital member of this team, she is much more than you give her credit for, and she balances you perfectly."

"Which is why she is so vital to this team." Mars added. "My father told me before I was inducted, both Courts contain two contrasting pairs, a specific blend of personalities that work together. You are the logic, Mercury, the brain. She is the sword that reacts on instinct."

"And Venus is the arm, while Mars is the eye." Serenity giggled.

They had reached the Senshi Wing of the palace now, and Mars disappeared off into her own chambers.

"Mercury?"

The Senshi of Ice and Wisdom glanced at her Princess before becoming absorbed in her miniature computer once more. "Yes, Princess?"

"How goes the search?"

The Mercurian paused in typing on the console, hesitating before replying. "My search of the Silver System reported nothing out of place, Princess. You have nothing to fear."

"I thank you for that." Serenity's voice was becoming cool again, commanding and a little irritated even. "But we both know that that wasn't what I meant."

For several minutes Serenity didn't think that Mercury would answer her, for the blue-haired young woman continued typing into her computer as though her sovereign princess hadn't just commanded her to respond. But then Mercury sighed, and the Lunarian Princess relaxed again.

"Slowly. I have found no traces of the one you seek within our system. I am not sure whether to start looking within other systems. There are millions and it would be, logically speaking, like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Serenity drooped, but then brightened. "Have you checked _all_ the planets in our system, Mercury?"

The other woman gave her a look. "All those worth checking, of course."

"But not _all_." persisted the Lunarian.

Mercury huffed and if she had been a bird then she would have ruffled her feathers irritably. "Terra is hardly worth considering, Princess." she lectured. "It is a rural planet roughly a thousand years behind on technology and social and economic progress and besides-"

"_Please_, Mercury," Serenity pleaded. "Please, I beg of you, just check Terra, just this once, and if you are proven right then I will never speak of the planet again. But I have a good feeling whenever I look at it. I think we might find answers there."

Merucry kept her thoughts to herself; Terra could only bring trouble in her opinion. "Of course, Princess." with a small bow she swept away into her own chambers.

Sitting down at her desk, she placed her miniature computer in front of her and clicked an earring to activate her visor. "I can't believe i'm doing this." she muttered as she waved a hand across the air over the desk in front of her, creating a paper-thin layer of ice which she could then interface with the computer to form a wider and better screen than her hand-held could provide her with.

She focused on the only clear images she had of the three men and placed identifiers on various points in the images. Then she ran a search for the clothing. She came up with one small entry, an article written a millennium ago by some media-type.

_Latest fashions . . . males wear . . . darker colours than most places in the system . . . drab that looks fab . . ._

Amelia frowned. The language used made it sound as though a Venusian had written this article, and there was no mention of a planet. Widening the search parameters, she tried again.

_Fashions on Terra match the social attitudes of the civilisations that inhabit the rural planet. Only a few women wear trousers while most clothe themselves in dresses and skirts. The men choose to wear clothing of a style previously favoured on Jupiter and the colours are often darker unless the individual is of the higher classes, and even then the display is nothing compared to, for example, Venusian or Lunarian finery . . . Such studies that have been undertaken in secret reveal that, unlike its neighbours, Terra is a patriarchal world and has been so since the demise of its protecting senshi, Sailor Terra, and the disappearance of it's protecting crystal, the brother to the Lunarians' Imperial Silver Crystal; the Golden Crystal._

The thin eyebrows shot up at that.

So Serenity was right?

Quickly she scanned the rest of the article, recognising the outfit that the young man her Princess had danced with as one favoured by the royal line of Terra over a millennium ago. But that didn't mean anything now, surely. No planet could be _that_ behind!

Could it?

Amelia wasn't sure whether she should share these findings with her Princess or not.

She delicately placed her fingers back on the ice-screen and turned back to the three images. Biting her lip, she considered her options.

One; withhold this information from High Princess Serenity and prevent her from getting into trouble. At the same time be considered a traitor if anybody ever found out about this and, if Serenity ever found out that she had withheld the information, earn her Princess's distrust.

Not an option.

Two; tell Venus and the others about this alarming turn of events. Still be considered a traitor and again earn Serenity's distrust.

She could just imagine their faces. No, that wasn't an option really, either.

Three; tell Serenity about her findings.

Amelia pulled a face. If she could find another way, she wouldn't.

Four; tell Serenity, but also tell everyone else.

No. absolutely not. Then she would still be a traitor, she would be completely dishonoured along with her kingdom, and Serenity still wouldn't trust her. She would be exiled from the System.

A long, weary sigh escaped her lips. She really had no other option. She had to tell her, and hope that her Princess's curiosity wouldn't get them all into trouble.

She reflected that this would be the perfect time to seek out Jupiter and ask her advice; the Jovian was good at that sort of thing when a situation defied all logic. But that would mean defying her Princess's wishes and risking Jupiter telling Venus and the Queen.

Why did Serenity always manage to do this to her?

Tired, she got up, dissolved the ice-screen, and left her chambers, making her way over to and up the spiral stairs to Serenity's suite of rooms on the floor above. She paused, torn between her loyalty to Serenity and her loyalty to the others, with a hand poised to knock. Amelia was about to turn away, prepared to go to the library and think long and hard about her predicament, when the door was opened and crystal blue eyes blinked at her from within.

"Mercury?"

Serenity's silvery voice made her pause. "Yes, Princess?"

"I felt you out here. What do you need?" she studied the Mercurian for a minute or two. "Did you find something?"

Mercury hesitated – this was her last chance – but in the end she nodded glumly. Her loyalty was again torn in two when her Princess smiled dazzlingly and opened her door wider.

"Come on in! You can tell me all about it over wine. A servant just brought up the most delicious cakes."

Reluctantly and berating herself for her lack of courage, Amelia entered the room.

Serenity's chambers were bright, painted in soft creams and touched here and there with silver and gold to give an overall ethereal appearance. The reception room was no different than the rest of the suite. A small glass and metal table sat between two luxurious sofas and a tray holding a plate of cakes, two crystal glasses and a crystal decanter of red-pink wine sat upon it. Serenity sat on one sofa, smoothing the skirts of her long cream dress as she did so. Amelia sat opposite her, crossing her ankles as she had been taught and poured wine into the two glasses, passing one to her Princess.

Amelia had been expected; this had all been laid out within minutes of her arrival. It was yet another sign of the darker side of the Lunarian Princess, but as Queen Selenity had informed them all during a private meeting with the four Inner Senshi after their inductions, being chosen as the bearer of the Silver Crystal was not without its problems.

The keeper of the crystal was always revered _and_ feared by all.

"Now then," Serenity began, sipping her wine, "what are your findings?"

There it was, the gleam in the crystal blue eyes that was just slightly darker, the shadowed, more mysterious side to their Princess.

"I searched Terra." Amelia admitted, staring into the cut-crystal glass. She noticed a faint pattern within the crystal itself; traceries of silver forming a pattern of swirls and eddies that could only been seen when examined closely or when the threads caught the light.

"And you found?"

"A match."

The words were simple, but the effect they had on Serenity was profound. The young woman echoed the words silently, then her eyes glowed with happiness. "You see? I told you that answers could be found there."

Amelia squirmed uncomfortably, recalling Raechal's collapse during a vision;

"_A dark cloud hangs over this kingdom and all who are a part of it . . . This kingdom shall fall."_

The words that Mars had uttered still sent a cold chill throughout her body.

_'Answers are not the only things to be found on that planet, I fear.'_ she thought darkly.

"Why so quiet, Mercury?" Serenity was watching her with those blue eyes of hers.

"It is nothing, Princess." She admonished herself silently; emotions were not her forte. She was a being of logic, not intuition; she shouldn't be paying attention to these silly feelings of impending doom, for they were only sparked by Mars' words. It was illogical and impossible that anybody should hear those words spoken as Mars had spoken them and not feel uneasy.

"Good." Serenity smiled again. "Now then, tell me what you found."

…...


	5. New Horizons

**Finally, this chapter dragged a lot for me to begin with, then the last couple of days i churned out a ton! A nice long chapter for you guys. Thanks to all who have added this story to alerts/favourites, or even just read it, and thanks to my reviewers for the comments! Lovely lovely reviews :D**

**Twighla Shields: thanks for the compliment, i'm happy you're enjoying this. I fully intend to finish it as it's the first part of a planned trilogy, past, present and future. Hopefully i haven't bitten off more than i can chew lol. And i know exactly what you mean about leading the double-life, annoying but thrilling :D hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you seem to have liked the others. Now to think of a title for this chapter lol.**

**Thanks and hugs to evrybody! Now let's get on with this show shall we? Oh, and before i forget, i introduce the idea of "hidden names" here, partly because i'm pagan irl and have a secret name (i like the idea of them) but it's also important to the plot later on.**

* * *

**Chapter Four: New Horizons**

Sighing dreamily, Serenity gazed up at the planet of blue and green. It hadn't long risen over her horizon, and still looked ghostly, a figment of a dream that had escaped into her waking world.

What would it be like, she wondered, to walk upon its soil? To breath its air? To talk to its people? Were they a barbaric people, as the rumours and stories would have one believe? Or were they civilised? Did the ladies wear beautiful gowns and laugh and talk in sunshine while the men played games? Were they like her own people?

All these questions and many more besides had flown through her mind since Mercury had left some hours ago. It was now nearly midnight on her world. What time was it on Terra?

Another sigh escaped her lips. How she longed to go there. But how could she? All contact with Terra had been cut off long ago by her ancestors and theirs. There was no way . . .

Or was there?

She blinked as the realisation came to her. The teleport system. Surely Terra had once been a part of the system that linked the planets? She had paid enough attention when Mercury was explaining the device to her that she knew it was old technology now by the Alliance's standards. Maybe she should just go and see?

Nodding to herself she slipped on a light cloak and left her room.

It was with great relief that she found the corridors of the Silver Palace to be empty. She hummed a tune to herself below her breath as she made her way to the front courtyard where the teleportation pad was. She was only going to look. No harm in just looking. Right?

She reached the control panel and looked at it for a few minutes. Usually Mercury or an attendant would deal with this thing; Serenity had never had much of a head for technology. But she must do what she must do, and all that jazz . . . now, how to work it?

She touched the screen in a corner and the display changed to a directory of some sort. It appeared to be a digital address book.

Surprised, she blinked her big blue eyes at it, then smiled. Surely it could not be so easy as this? She'd thought it would be much harder to operate! At this rate she'd only have to _look_ for the correct name.

Absently, she scrolled down the list. And it was a _long_ list.

Kinmoku . . . Mermaid . . . Mau . . . wasn't that where Luna and Artemis were from? Sirius . . . Venus . . . Pluto . . . why wasn't it in alphabetical order? It would be so much easier if it was in alphabetical order! Nyx . . . Chu . . . Mercury . . . Mars . . . Nemesis . . . Uranus . . . Jupiter . . . Sol . . . she was going to have to speak to Lady Mercury about putting this thing in alphabetical order, she really was!

_Terra_.

Serenity barely repressed a gleeful shout. It _was_ in there! She could get there!

Then she paused, thinking. This might take a little planning. Looking to the sky, she decided that now might be a little too late to journey to the mysterious new planet; she would definitely be missed, and there was no way she could allow anyone to know.

Turning away with a secret smile on her face, Serenity put the screen back to its main page and returned to her quarters.

Tomorrow.

She would go tomorrow.

* * *

Down on the surface of the Earth, known as _Terra_ to the Silver Alliance, Endymion was tending his rose garden again when Zoicite approached him.

"What's wrong?" Endymion asked, though he didn't look up from the rose.

"Endy," the use of the nickname caused the prince to look up. "I was thinking about what happened the other night."

Zoicite was the youngest of the Shitennou, the Four Heavenly Kings of Earth. Lord of the North, his realm covering the vast European continent, he was scientist, spy and magician, able to control a crystalline compound that hadn't been seen by the reclusive peoples of earth for a thousand years, when the last generation of the Shitennou had been in existence. His hair was long, curling softly down to his waist in a low ponytail, a warm, golden shade of light honeyed brown, giving him a slightly effeminate, but definitely boyish, charm that could either make him seem even younger or ageless. His eyes made a startling contrast to his hair and lightly tanned complexion; they were a vivid, intense shade of grass green.

"I don't think it was such a good idea." the young man continued.

Endymion's eyebrows rose a touch at that statement. "What makes you think that?"

The Northern King fidgeted some more. "It was a great risk to take, sire. I think it was an unnecessary risk."

The Prince of Earth was thoughtful. "I see."

"I have monitored the device we found in the ancient ruins." Zoicite added, trying desperately to change the subject. "And once, early last night, it emitted some strange readings, as though it was activating again. But then it stopped."

"But you didn't touch it?"

Shaking his head, Zoicite elaborated. "I managed to trace the co-ordinates before it stopped." he fidgeted, and Endymion sensed that this was the source of Zoicite's unease. "They trace back to the location we found ourselves the other night."

Midnight blue eyes widened. "The Moon?"

"He just told you about the glitch in the pad thing I take it."

The voice of Jadeite brought Endymion's attention onto the face of the second youngest Shitennou.

Jadeite looked as boyish as Zoicite at all times, except during the heat of battle. Short blond curls falling into eyes that were a mischievous shade of blue-green, he was taller than Z. But he was broader of shoulder and more obviously muscled than the Northern Lord, though still managing to look lean and athletic. Jadeite was Lord of the East, the continent of Asia his province; fire both beautifully dark and bright was his to command. Priest, warrior and sorcerer, Jadeite was the Phoenix Lord.

"Do you know something of this?" Endymion asked him plainly.

Knowing what his liege meant, Jadeite offered a smile and shook his head. "You know my powers don't work that way." When Endymion only stared, and Zoicite joined in the challenge against his older friend too, the Phoenix sighed. "I have only limited vision with fire, you know that."

"But you know something." Zoicite's tone brooked no arguments. Knowing he was caught out, the blond sighed again.

"I know something. I'm not sure what." he admitted. Jadeite walked further into the rose garden and fell onto the grass beside Endymion with a weary _thump_. "I see light. Light activated the device. It's white and pure, but as with anything there is a darker, more shadowed side to this light, though it usually slumbers." he frowned at a rose. "I don't think it will stay in slumber for much longer."

"Jadeite," Endymion said warningly, knowing that his friend was going off topic.

Jadeite shook his head to clear that thought away, then gave another frown, though this one was lighter. "This is going to sound completely stupid, but I see love in your future."

Zoicite and Endymion both blinked at him for several minutes, obviously waiting for him to spring up and shout '_Gotcha!'_ in their faces, when he didn't Zoicite burst into peals of unrestrained laughter.

"You sound like a fortune teller at a festival!" Zoicite howled, tears running down his cheeks from laughing so much. Endymion himself was struggling to keep his own laughter at bay, though he could not hide the twitching of his smirk.

Jadeite openly sulked. "Do you want to hear this or not?" he folded his arms and glared at the scientist.

Zoicite's laughter quieted, but didn't stop.

"Nothing else, Jad?"

Sighing once more, he looked up at Endymion when he spoke. "No. My vision becomes clouded by red light and all I can see is a pair of purple eyes staring back at me. I was so unnerved it snapped me right out of the vision. It was like somebody intruded upon it and blocked my way."

"I can see it now." Zoicite snorted, still struggling to control his laughter. "Endymion will fall for a red-headed beauty with purple eyes!" he collapsed into hysterics once more, rolling on the grass and clutching his sides.

"No." Jadeite said shortly, "That last part was not connected to our Lord in any way."

"Then who is it about, Jadeite?" Endymion probed gently, ignoring the amused antics of his youngest guard.

This caused Jadeite to hestitate and reply, in a voice full of uncertainty, "I think it was for me."

* * *

Raechal let out a sigh as she turned away from her fire to look around the room, thinking.

It was frustrating, the only bits of the vision she was being shown were the bits she could remember, though today there was a new piece to the puzzle. Her vision had become filled with short blonde hair and laughing blue eyes. She didn't know what it meant. But she couldn't see anything else in the fire once that image sprang to mind, so she had no choice but to finish.

Her heavy curtains were still closed, casting the room into darkness so near complete that if it wasn't for her fire Raechal might have believed she had fallen into some dark pit. But the firelight illuminated the furniture nearby; a plush couch covered in deep red cloth embroidered with golden threads.

She still wore the short, belted, toga-like tunic and cape that revealed her as a Senshi and Imperial Guard. Her hair was loose, a wild raven cascade that fell over her shoulder and down her back, pooling slightly on the floor. Her violet eyes were troubled, slightly hazy as she shrugged off the last traces of her trance.

Slowly she stood and wandered over to where the curtains were, drawing one aside slightly to peer out through the small gap she created. A sliver of silver-blue light fell through and illuminated her pale skin and dark hair, the single eye it found glittered.

On the White Moon it was eternally deep twilight, though subtle shifts in the degree of light told night from day. In the distance she could see the Lunarian capital, across the Sea of Serenity, lit up in bright gold from thousands of lights. She debated venturing out into the city, but decided not to; it required a walk from the palace, across the softly lit causeway, and she didn't feel like making that journey this evening.

Her pale fingers found the oval ruby that lay over her collarbone and she touched it lightly, as though to reassure herself.

Blue-green eyes invaded her mind once again.

She let out a frustrated noise and turned away from the window. Why? _Why_?

Raechal recognised him. How could she not? He was the young man that had taken her hand at the Princess's birthday celebration. He had teased her and complimented her when no other had dared. Was that why he invaded her senses?

She thought of the odd look Jupiter had given her as they had retired to their rooms that night, before her collapse. Although Jupiter, Mars and Mercury always wished to leave earlier, protocol dictated that they could only take their leave when Serenity wished to. Nothing short of severe illness dictated otherwise.

Jupiter had looked at her curiously, as though she was trying to see something.

Right now Raechal wished she was in the room with her, so that she could talk to her. It was a faintly compelling idea, but one that was totally unnecessary; the Senshi were not friends, only comrades. Anything else was meaningless and pointless. They were warriors, not lovers.

Though she decided then and there that Venus might be the exception to that particular rule.

There was a knock at her door, causing her to look around. "Come in."

The door opened, admitting Lady Mercury into her chambers.

"I came to check on you." Amelia explained, glancing round at the darkened chamber; it was almost always this dark in Mars' rooms and it disconcerted the Mercurian to no end. "You mentioned earlier that you would be attempting to read the fire again."

Raechal nodded. "I did."

"How did it go?"

Lady Mercury was attempting at a conversation with her? It surprised Raechal slightly; Mercury was as all Mercurians were, standoffish and cold. Her attempts at friendly talk were unusual, to say the least.

"Better than the last time I tried." Raechal admitted, caught off guard by the conversation. "A new image entered my mind."

"Really?" Amelia knew all about the troubles her comrade was having with her sight. "What was it?"

Raechal opened her mouth, but hesitated, unwilling to go too much into it right then. That alone shocked her even more, and she was glad that her rooms were so dark. "I'm not quite sure." she said.

"_Why don't I want to tell her? I'm seeing the man from the ball, the one who danced with me. I should tell her! Why won't I tell her?"_

Unaware of the Martian's internal battle of wills, or their eavesdropper, Amelia studied the fire thoughtfully.

Outside the door, swathed in a long cloak, Serenity listened to them talk. She thought Mars sounded a bit odd, but dismissed it from her mind. Now was the perfect time to put her plan into action. She slipped away down the hall.

Mars and Mercury would be on patrol tonight; best leave now, else she would be found.

The front courtyard was deserted, for which she was very glad; Serenity had been hoping that she wouldn't have to lie to some poor attendant to make them leave.

She glanced around warily, looking to see if anyone was watching. Only when she was certain did she use the controls to find her destination. The pad glowed a little brighter and began to hum; she hoped nobody hear the sound and came to investigate. She pressed the button that would complete the teleport and then ran onto the platform, lifting her skirts so she didn't trip and fall. For a moment its light illuminated her hair and face, and then she faded from view. The pad went back to normal, and all was quiet in the courtyard once more.

Serenity fell to her knees with a gasp when she re-materialised. She didn't recall the process ever being quite so . . . rough. A strange bird call brought her face up, and for a moment she felt nothing but pure panic as she took in her surroundings.

A wall surrounded the area around the platform, collapsed, completely gone in places, and the grass surrounding her was strewn with what she assumed was rubble from the walls. She could see arches and buildings on both sides, and the remains of a gateway ahead. It must once have been very grand and tall, she guessed.

She stood slowly and turned to see what lay behind her, noticing as she did so that the courtyard was actually cobbled, and received the biggest shock so far.

The castle that stood there was a desolate ruin. The windows and the front entrance she could see all looked as though they had been torn from the façade. Through some windows she could see sunlight, and she realised with a jolt that part of the roof was entirely gone. The side of one tower had crumbled under some attack of ages past, revealing the staircase within and rooms that were open to the elements. The stub of another tower was nearer to her, surrounded by collapsed stone, and the spine of the staircase rose pitifully a few metres above it before stopping at nothing.

Presented with this dismal image, Serenity could only think that in her haste she had chosen the wrong destination, or else this kingdom had been attacked between her birthday and now. But then she began to notice other things that she hadn't before.

The courtyard she stood in was shaded slightly by trees that had grown within it, and grass had grown up over the cobbles. The main building was set back slightly, partly in the clearing and then disappearing further back into dense forest. Leafy and flowering vines and ivy had climbed up the ancient walls, softening the raw edges and lending an almost enchanting air to the structure. Sunlight fell onto everything it could, making it glow. She could see animals moving about, a good distance away, but their presence assured her that, wherever she was, this planet was alive.

She took a step off the platform, and then another, moving awestruck towards the old castle. Now that her imagination had moved past the horrors of finding a battleground she saw that in its heyday it must have been very beautiful. Rustic, certainly, but beautiful.

She turned and looked back towards the gateway, starting to walk over. A breeze blew her silvery hair and cream gown, bringing with it strange but tantalising scents. Something sweet and crisp, and something else that reminded her of her visit to the Jovian Capital, when it had rained and the forest and jungle had come alive with scents and sounds.

This was like then.

But Serenity knew this wasn't Jupiter, or any of its moons; the gravity was too light, feeling closer to the forces of her own home-world or of Mars.

Tentatively, she stepped between the pillars of the fallen gate, seeing for the first time the remains of rusted iron hinges and fittings.

She stepped into a place that even Lady Jupiter would be proud to see.

The surrounding forest was simply alive with life! She could hear birds and other animals calling each other, and could smell flowers and the sweet smell of grass and earth after fresh rain. The floor was carpeted in rich, lush grasses and speckled all over with flowers, dappled by sunlight.

"_Wherever this is, I think I will have to bring Jupiter here. She would love it here."_ Serenity thought with an internal sigh as she began to walk through the forest. Once or twice birds flew past her head, and once she could have sworn she saw some creature bound away from the edges of her sight. It seemed completely tranquil beneath the green canopy.

So when someone fell from a tree in front of her, naturally Serenity uttered a small scream.

"Please!" the hissed plea was accompanied by the strange individual to stand up quickly and place a hand over her mouth to quiet her. "No noise. I promise I won't hurt you, but no noise."

Serenity nodded fearfully, eyes tightly shut. She opened them again when her attacker removed their hand and uttered another surprised little gasp as she met a pair of brilliant green eyes.

"Who's Artemis?" the young man - at least she _thought_ it was a young man - looked confused, and she hadn't realised she had spoken her first thought aloud.

Internally she scolded herself for using Jupiter's hidden name; not only could it cause trouble for the Jovian but there was the risk of opening that particular bond by uttering it, or even thinking of it, which would lead to her discovery. Even if she still found it funny that her guard's hidden name was the same as her mother's advisor's given name.

"N-no one." she stammered. "W-where am I?"

He gave her a strange look and tossed the end of a ponytail that rivalled Jupiter's back over his shoulder. "The Elysian Forest." he said, looking her up and down as though really seeing her for the first time. "Haven't we met before? You look familiar, but I swear I should recall a face like your own."

She blushed, about to stammer a reply when they heard movement. The thought of more ambushers terrified poor Serenity and she took a step back, looking for a way to escape.

"Damn it." he muttered. "They've found me already, I bet it was falling out of the tree that . . ." he trailed off, looking at her. "I'm sorry, but for the moment you should come with me, I don't want to leave you alone in these woods, it's not safe for a young woman to be by herself in here."

Still surprised at finding other living beings like herself on this planet, Serenity allowed herself to be dragged along. _Elysia_ . . . where had she heard that name before?

"I'm sorry but are you in some kind of trouble?" she gasped out, ducking a branch.

"No, not really." he replied, focusing on their path and being as quiet as possible. "It's more like a game, but if they find me there will probably be a fight. This is training for us."

Training . . . her Senshi did something like this in the gardens of the Lunar Palace; often in the maze or by the pools.

Suddenly he pulled her close to him to hide behind a thick tree. Putting a finger to his lips as he looked down at her, he turned his head to the side and waited until something had gone rushing past them in the trees above, then he took her hand and doubled back again.

Neither spoke for several minutes until he'd found what she took to be a bush of some kind with branches that swept the ground and silvery-green leaves shaped like delicate spear-points. He parted the stems and allowed her through first, then closed the curtain behind himself.

"Safe, for a minute. Just long enough to catch our breath." he gave her a boyish grin that had her smiling back instantly. "Sorry I've dragged you into our little game."

"No, it's no trouble. It's quite fun actually." she assured him. She was certain now that her new friend was a young man, and was very glad that in the rush her bangs had covered up her crescent-moon insignia.

He, of course, was studying her very closely. "You know, I really get the feeling that I've seen you somewhere before," he said, tone thoughtful, "But I'll be damned if I can remember where." he pondered the matter further. "Perhaps at court, your manner of speech and your gown certainly befit a Lady."

"I wouldn't have thought so, I'm new in these parts." she said before thinking it through first, and instantly clapped a hand to her mouth. _"Stupid Serenity! You just had to open your mouth when he gave you the perfect cover!"_

He had noticed, but he said nothing, filing away her comment for later analysis and focusing now on not getting caught, and especially not getting caught with a young woman, especially one as beautiful as she. Jadeite, at least, wouldn't let him live it down.

"I think the willow's done its job well enough." he commented, looking out through the screen of leaves. She realised he meant the shrub, that she now realised was a tree. "I think it's safe to make a move now."

He gestured for them to go out behind the willow and Serenity went first, parting the leaves carefully.

No sooner had she left the safety of the tree than she was suddenly picked up by the waist and hauled aside, held against another. Her companion of before swore as he emerged and then rushed to block a blow to his side from a sword, though she had no idea from whence he had pulled his own glittering blades.

"Well, well, Zoi, keeping secrets from us were you?" laughed the man holding her. She realised now that his hold wasn't bruising, just restraining.

Her companion – Zoi, was it? - growled in her general direction. "No, I ran into her in here. I think she's lost and because you guys were all chasing me I had to drag her with me." he snapped. "Head out of the proverbial gutter, Jad, I think she's nobility." he added, after blocking another blow. His assailant was a man a good deal taller than himself, with hair almost as silvery as her own set off by a deeper tan than Zoi's. He was attacking Zoi with a fair amount of zeal.

"Stop it, you could hurt him!" she shouted, struggling to escape the circle of Jad's arms.

"Easy princess," Jad said kindly, "It's all a game. Malachite won't hurt him, I promise." he seemed to have barely noticed how she froze at that one word; _princess_. "Well," Jad added, seeming to have reconsidered his words, "There might be a bruise or two, but he won't kill him I promise."

Serenity looked up at him, her mouth forming a perfect little _o_, and then promptly shut it again just as Jad's eyes went very wide and shocked.

She definitely recognised Jad. He was Lady Mars' dance partner at her birthday celebration! She had looked at him that night because it had been a pleasant surprise to see someone dare to ask her fiery-tempered guard for a dance, and she had wanted to see who had been brave enough to risk Lady Mars' fire.

And Jad certainly recognised _this_ sylph.

"Zoi," even Serenity thought his voice was unnaturally high, "where did you say you had found her again?"

A breeze ruffled her bangs and Jad caught a glimpse of gold beneath the angel-fine hair.

There was a heavy grunt and the clash of steel against something that most definitely wasn't steel. "In the middle of the woods, why?" Another grunt and the sound of a body hitting the ground hard. Someone let out a victorious laugh.

"Actually I found her near the ruins." Zoi sounded a little winded now and she whipped her head around to look at him; he was trying to get up and was clutching at his side, so apparently Jad's prediction of bruises was correct. "Why do you ask?"

Serenity noticed a man walking up behind the silver-haired Malachite, only the smallest fraction shorter with equally long, curling chocolate-coloured hair.

"Perhaps because she is not of this Earth."

The voice was behind Malachite and the other man, and now Serenity made out somebody standing in the shadow of a tree. He moved into the sunlight now, walking slowly, like he was on the most luxurious stroll.

A dapple-patch of sunlight illuminated him from the feet up, and Serenity felt compelled to follow the light as it travelled up. Black leather boots revealed themselves first, followed by dark indigo-blue trousers, tucked into the top of the boots and encasing strong-looking legs, held up by a black leather belt with a shiny gold buckle. Into these was tucked a white shirt with loose sleeves and tight cuffs, buttoned up but for the top two and with only a small collar that didn't fold down, a small version of a priest's. He was broad-shouldered and tan-skinned, with a strong jawline and high cheekbones and a straight Roman nose. She didn't see the eyes yet, she saw the mop of dark silky hair first, throwing rainbow lights from the sunlight and then he looked up and . . .

Oh.

Eyes so blue it was as though some great deity had taken the night sky illuminated by a full moon and placed them in his eyes.

"Princess Serenity." his mouth formed an amused smirk that was affectionate rather than sneering. "It is good to see you again. Pray tell why did you come to Earth today?"

He was her dance partner from her birthday ball. Her secretive, mysterious prince charming.

Her eyes rose to his forehead, where a gold circlet rested against his skin and dark hair.

Her _real life_ Prince Charming!

"_How did I miss that?"_

Meanwhile, during her inner and definitely un-lady-like rant, Jadeite was rounding on Zoicite.

"You were hiding under a willow with the _Moon Princess_?"

"I didn't realise it was her, I didn't have a clear view of her at that ball!" Zoicite protested.

"_Now I know where i've heard of Elysia! When I was little and mother and Luna told me stories of Terra! It's the Realm of Dreams!"_

"How could you not? That golden crescent on her forehead not a big enough sign for you? What you need it to glow bright as the sun?"

"Jadeite, leave him alone. It's an easy mistake to make."

"Like hell it is Nephrite she's got a bright gold crescent on her forehead! And he had a clear shot at the ball because he could clearly see Endy from where he stood!"

"Knock it off you three, you're setting a poor example for Earth."

"_Endy? Earth?"_

The dark-haired prince shook his head. "You'll have to forgive my guards, they have a habit of forgetting themselves away from the Golden Palace."

"_G-g-guards?"_

He seemed to see her unease, for he introduced himself. "My name is Endymion, Princess Serenity. I'm the Crown Prince of Earth."

Serenity didn't think her situation could get any worse. Not only had her dance partner been a rebel prince, he was also standing right in front of her after she had almost literally run into one of his personal guards _and_ they were speaking a foreign language! Almost. Ok so it was just one word she didn't quite understand.

What was an Earth?

"Allow me to formally introduce my two companions that night." He extended a hand to gesture the two forward. "Zoicite, Lord of the Northern Kingdom, was the one on the lookout for me."

Zoicite bowed to her, still looking slightly uncomfortable. "Forgive us if we disturbed the celebrations too much, Your Highness."

"Not at all, you livened it up." she told him with a mischievous smile. He brightened considerably at that.

"And Jadeite, Lord of the Eastern Kingdom, was on the dance floor with us."

"You were partnering Lady Mars." she interrupted him before he could speak.

Jadeite's eyes glittered. "You mean the little firefly? She was a wonderful dance partner."

"You riled up the second in command of my personal guard." Serenity informed him, eyes sparkling in amusement. "I hope you can withstand the heat."

"I'm fairly certain I can. Besides I love a challenge." he said dismissively. But when she turned away he visibly paled a little. Zoicite snickered, causing the blond to throw him a dirty look.

"Lord Nephrite, King of the West, is second in command of my own guard." Endymion continued, giving an amused smirk to Jadeite. The tall curly-haired man bowed respectfully to her, and Serenity instantly decided that Jupiter might like this one; it was hard to find men taller than the Jovian and most were put off by her height and build.

Nephrite looked to be taller than Jupiter by a good couple of inches or more, and his eyes, now that she got a good look at them, were a shade of hazel that was neither blue, green or brown but a combination of all three. He had similar facial features to both Zoicite and Endymion; straight nose, though his was slightly crooked as though it was once broken, high cheekbones. But there were subtle, more unique features too.

"And the leader of my Shitennou is Malachite, Lord of the South." Endymion finished. The silver-haired man gave a low, courtly bow, and Serenity felt impelled to return it with a small curtsy of her own.

"It is my pleasure and an honour." she intoned lightly.

Introductions over now, the four Shitennou returned to idly talking (Jadeite and Zoicite), or relaxing on a large boulder in Nephrite's case, though Malachite stayed close by, she presumed to keep an eye on his prince.

"Your guards are very relaxed around you." she observed, then mentally hit herself; what a rude thing to say!

Endymion didn't seem to find it rude or prying though. He looked thoughtful. "We've grown up together, in a way." he explained. "They arrived at the castle when they were six and I was five, and have lived and trained in the Golden Palace with me almost entirely since. We are like brothers, friends as well as a master and his servants." He watched Nephrite hit jadeite over the head for something the blond had said, then turned his thoughtful gaze to her. "Are you this friendly with your guards? If at least one was on the dance floor then you must be relaxed with them."

Malachite gave a warning cough, but she gave the taller man a smile that indicated that she did not mind the question too much.

"Truthfully, we are not as relaxed with each other as this." she told him. By now they were sitting on the grass. She could see Zoicite and Jadeite pulling something out of packs lying near them and was vaguely curious. "Within the court we are very formal towards each other, as decorum demands. Away from court my Senshi are a little more relaxed around me, though we don't have the level of camaraderie that I have seen here. I don't know what they are like when I am not there." She shrugged, a delicate little gesture.

"Senshi?" Endymion's brows were drawn together slightly; it was a word he didn't understand.

"It means soldier. The Senshi are the protectors of the Silver Alliance and the royal family of the White Moon. Each planet in the Alliance has a senshi. Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter all live on the White Moon with me, with leave to return home every couple of months in shifts. Sailors Uranus and Neptune keep watch and protect the Alliance from without, living within their personal castles with only a few weeks' leave every Lunar Year. Sailor Pluto is usually to be found by the Chronos Gateway, guarding the Time Vortex."

"What of Saturn?" Nephrite suddenly asked.

She looked at him. "You know of Saturn?"

"Of course," Nephrite frowned slightly. "We may not have realised that life existed on those planets, but we know of them all. Why wouldn't we?"

Serenity decided not to answer that particular question. "Sailor Saturn is in slumber, her powers are too great to allow her to awaken, too dangerous. She is only to be awoken in the most dire of circumstances."

Nephrite noticed how she had evaded his question by answering the other, but he didn't comment.

That part about the Time Vortex had gone straight over Endymion's head, but he knew that Zoicite and Malachite had heard and would help him understand later.

She was thinking of how much her Senshi would kill her for revealing so much to someone she had only just met. She glanced up at a patch of sky, but couldn't be sure of the time.

"I see." Endymion caught something that Jadeite had just thrown at his head with a chuckle. She stared at the orange orb curiously, noting its pitted skin and smelling a sharp, citrus-y smell.

"Your Highness?" she looked up to see Zoicite standing in front of her with a similar orb, offering it to her. She took it and rolled it between her small hands, feeling it. Zoicite returned to Jadeite, who was giving him a look.

"Here, let me help." a hand reached over and plucked the orb from her grasp. She watched Endymion use a knife to carefully skin what she now realised was a fruit of some kind before handing it back to her in a paper towel. She caught the sharp tang of sweet citrus. "What is it?" she asked, picking at it and finding a segment falling out at her ministrations.

"An orange." he said with a touch of amusement, watching as she picked up the segment and inspected it before giving it a nibble. "Haven't you seen one before?"

"No, on the White Moon most everything is some shade of white, it's the light that causes it." She seemed pleased by the taste and she picked out another segment. "I've only seem a fruit similar on Venus, and it wasn't quite the same. I can't recall the name now it was so long ago."

"I see."

She realised that he wasn't being ignorant in saying those two words; it was his way of showing that he was mulling over what she had said.

"I hadn't realised our two worlds were so very different."

Serenity sensed a political ploy to his statement, and ruffled to meet his challenge. "Not so different as you might think. We look similar for a start, we act similar, we speak a similar language. I daresay your world has a native tongue of its own, mine is _Lunarian_, an old tongue we only use now for the strictest formalities. When I first came here I thought I had journeyed to Jupiter, the forest is so similar to ones I have seen there."

He listened to her little speech with pleasant surprise. Delicate in appearance, true, but his flattering words at the ball had been unintentionally correct; it seemed the Moon Princess was a spirited little thing.

"You will have to forgive me, I am still getting used to the idea of other civilisations in our system. We have always been taught that the other planets of our system are barren wastelands, incapable of supporting life."

"Then you have been taught wrong." she scowled at the fruit in her hands; her kingdom was _not_ a barren wasteland.

Malachite shared a look with his Prince over her head. Endymion nodded to show the message was undderstood and changed track.

"Why did you come to Earth?"

She looked at him, her bright blue eyes, almost glowing they were such a bright colour, were confused for a minute or two, then she shrugged dismissively. "I was curious. You attracted my curiosity at the masquerade ball, I had Lady Mercury find out where you were from. I was curious to see if the stories of Terra I was told as a girl were true."

"Terra?" now he was confused.

"Terra is the name we of the Silver Alliance call your planet by. Your people also called it Terra, once upon a time." Another shrug, this time as though in answer to an obviously stupid question.

"I see. We call our planet Earth." Endymion explained.

"Earth . . ." she rolled the new name around on her tongue. "Terra's prettier." she said finally.

"She's right, Endy." Nephrite looked from the sky above that he could see to his prince. "The ancient texts do call our world by that name."

"What time is it?" she asked suddenly, startled blue eyes looking at the sky. The light seemed different, more golden.

"It's late afternoon, why?" Jadeite looked startled when she suddenly jumped up. "Hey, where are you going? You can't just run off in this forest you could get lost!" He and Zoicite both made to go after her.

"No time." she said. "I'm sorry, I hadn't realised it was so late. I could be missed on the White Moon if I stay too much longer." she made to turn away, then flashed a dazzling smile at them all. "Thank you for looking after me."

"No problem." Malachite said bemusedly.

"Will you return?"

Endymion's question made her pause. It made the Shitennou pause too.

"Perhaps." she hedged. "I am not sure." she threw another startled glance to the sky. "Can't use the teleport, someone might be there. I'll have to do it this way. Goodbye!" she turned, but she didn't vanish into the green shadows of the forest. Instead she glowed bright silver and faded in a glitter of sparkling dust.

Zoicite touched the spot where she had vanished. "She's certainly something." he said. "One minute prim and proper and the next minute a bundle of energy."

Jadeite let out a laugh. "I think I like this Princess. Did you hear her talk back to our precious Earth Prince? I don't think any Lady, noble or common, has ever spoken to him quite like that before."

"She was quite refreshing." Nephrite declared. "An honest creature, her emotions are easy to read, though still a politician's daughter to be sure."

"Sire?" Malachite was watching his prince curiously.

Endymion shook his head, finding his thoughts filled with long silver hair.


	6. It's all about perspective

**Ok then, the fifth chapter of _To Grasp At Quicksilver_ is yours to read. Thank you all for the reviews that have been sent, faves and alerts added, and to those who have simply read and not done anything else. I love you all for sticking with me through this story. But for those who are interested; _Ethereal Destiny_ is on hold for a little while, i need to work out some kinks and give the story a boot up the rear before i even think of trying to write the next chapter. I've hit a small snag but i'll get over it, eventually.**

**This one took a little while to get started; i kept writing the first few paragraphs, then deleting what i'd typed and starting again. I finally got settled with what i have here. As the title says; it's all about perspective ;)**

**Oh, and before i forget, my proof-reader, who has seen most of this chapter but not the last part, asked why i call Jupiter _Rosalita_ and not the others by their real names. It's because this early on in my universe, they don't call each other by their real names, only by title, so whoever's p.o.v. it is, the other three will still be _Venus_ and so on. It's a way to let you all get to know the girls, but at the same time instilling that their sense of duty so far overrides much else no matter how relaxed they are. But don't worry, that will get sorted out soon enough. Just thought i'd let you know in case someone else had picked up on it and was wondering.**

**So without further ado, i present the fifth chapter. Enjoy!**

**Eb x**

* * *

**Chapter Five: It's all about perspective . . .**

"Is everything ok Mercury?"

Seeing their youngest comrade's weary and slightly concerned face, hearing Lady Venus' vaguely worried voice, Jupiter wondered how it had come to the blunette calling them like this.

Rosalita was still on the Jovian moon of Io, the senshi moon of her kingdom. Lady Venus was still on Magellan, one of the artificial satellites created by the Mercurians at the behest of one of the past Lunarian Queens; the other was Mariner, the Mercurian senshi moon. Both looked vaguely natural, but to any who knew the façade was easily seen through.

Both Rosalita and Lady Venus had been awoken by servants and informed of the awaiting call from the Moon.

So now here they were, each sitting in their respective controller room within the Castles of Io and Magellan, feeling faintly uneasy at the logical Lady Mercury's unusually frazzled appearance.

The poor girl looked like she had barely slept for several days.

"I'm not sure." the soft, cool tones were missing their usual layer of ice. "The princess is acting strangely, dreamier than usual. Even Lady Mars is feeling a little worried about her."

"It looks to me like she's run you ragged again, Mercury." Rosalita commented. "What did she do? Run off into the capital city again?"

Mercury visibly shuddered at the memory. "No. To our knowledge she hasn't gone anywhere that is not within palace grounds. But she has just been . . . strange."

Apparently Lady Mercury had given up trying to describe their charge's actions.

"Define _strange_, Mercury." Venus said, her tone and eyes faintly stern.

Reacting to the almost-command from her leader, Mercury stood straight and entered what Venus liked to call _report-mode_. "She mopes about the palace and gardens all day, she is actually paying attention to her history and politics lessons for no apparent reason, she spends a lot of time at night gazing up at the sky, she asks myriad questions of Terra that are only just short of impropriety, she-"

"Hold up!" Rosalita interrupted her, and she shared a look with Venus, who occupied half of the screen before her. "What do you mean questions about Terra? She knows it is a forbidden topic beyond a point. It's a forbidden topic anywhere in the system."

"History, past relations, that sort of thing. She only just steers clear of the cause of the ban on communications with the rural planet." Mercury informed her taller comrade.

"Why her sudden interest in Terra?" Rosalita mused.

Venus interrupted. "She was always interested in Terra. As a child she would demand to be told stories of the planet. Luna told me." she also looked thoughtful. "But I must admit, this is a new level for her."

"Not to mention that such an interest in a forbidden planet can only attract negative attention." Mercury added, her blue eyes unreadable.

All three fell into silence for a while. The Princess was already slightly feared by her people because she was a host of the Silver Crystal, even though she had done nothing to garner that fear. Many also believed her to be a slightly vapid girl, which her Senshi could honestly say she was not. Especially if this latest scheme, whatever it was, could be believed. She didn't need any more added to this image. In fact she needed to rectify it. Though perhaps her sudden interest in her studies . . .

"I have to go." Mercury's voice was as soft as it had been at the start.

Rosalita thought that the loss of her icy tones made her almost . . . less icy. She pulled a face at the lame ending to that thought. "Okay, just try and stay out of trouble."

Mercury nodded and her section of the screen blipped to black. Venus' image stretched until it filled the space.

"Well, what do you think?" The blonde was giving Rosalita a speculative look.

"About what? All this?" at her leader's nod she sighed. "I don't know. I would say I doubt anything has happened, and yet . . ."

"You still can't shake the feeling that something is afoot." Venus finished for her, giving her an appraising once-over. She sighed. "I feel the same. In fact, I can't help but feel that Serenity is changed."

Alarmed, the green eyes focused on Lady Venus. "What in the seven heavens do you mean?"

Lady Venus paused heavily for a minute, thinking about what she wanted to say. That in itself told Rosalita that this was a delicate situation. "Her aura feels different. I know I am a distance away from her and it could be a mistake, but my empathy is telling me the same. Mercury is right, she is dreamier than usual." she hesitated.

"Go on," Rosalita urged, now intrigued. She took a sip from the wine on the table next to her.

"I cannot tell where this ribbon of light is going, I can only see her end, which is strange in itself." she didn't continue until the Jovian had nodded in understanding; Venus could see the light-ribbons connecting people, different colours and auras indicated different levels of feeling. "It was previously dormant, but now it's lit up like a star, and there are four more to match that indicate more sisterly feelings, like her lines that connect her to us." she paused heavily. "I feel that she has found her soul's mate."

Rosalita choked on her wine.

* * *

Serenity sat on the ground in the gardens of the palace a vision of silver and white amid a field of the palest pink flowers. Her skirts were spread around her in a circle of white and silver silks, her crystal-blue eyes gazing dreamily up at the slightly darkened sky. And at Terra.

Selenity watched her daughter from an open corridor of the palace, Lady Mars stood at her side.

"And you say she has been like this for a day or two?"

Nodding, the Martian young woman responded quietly. "Yes, your majesty. We are unable to discover the cause." she blushed slightly at the queen's soft, knowing smile.

"I believe you know more than you think, young Mars." Selenity said finally, her amusement growing. "Even if you won't admit it to yourself."

Recognising that she had been summarily dismissed, Lady Mars bowed as she took several steps back, then turned and walked back to the Senshi wing of the palace, her red heels clicking on the marble floors.

Queen Selenity turned from watching the proud young woman walking away to the younger woman sitting among the flowers. She thought she knew exactly what was wrong with her daughter, and it was nothing to be worried about in her eyes; in fact she felt it was normal and to be both expected and encouraged.

She had just begun to turn away again, ready to return to her tasks, when her daughter stood and dusted herself down, before gliding delicately over the flowers and following the path, heading towards the front area of the palace. Selenity opted to head that way as well, on the pretext of some small errand.

She found Serenity entering one of the courtyards, ironically the one next to the teleport platform's courtyard. "Why, my daughter, what are you doing here this late in the evening?"

Quickly performing a small curtsy, Serenity inwardly groaned and sighed in relief that she hadn't been caught in a more compromising situation. "I am taking a walk, mother." she replied, keeping her eyes clear of any guilt. Now more than ever, she found a use for those lessons on court etiquette that Luna had forced her to sit through since she was four or five years of age. "I was feeling restless and so I decided to get some air before I retired for the night."

The knowing smile on her mother's lips almost made her freeze. "I have heard that you have felt restless for the past day, my daughter." the grey-blue eyes twinkled. "Tell me, what has you so distracted child, that you would dream the time away?"

Serenity opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She could see it in the queen's eyes. Her mother knew? But surely she should be angry with her for doing this? Why was her mother being so calm?

Chuckling, Selenity tucked a loose strand of silver-blonde hair behind her daughter's ear. "It must be something special, for you to be like this." she gave Serenity a smile as she continued on her way to her council room. "Have a good walk, my dear. I hope you return a little more clear-headed than you are right now."

Staring after the older woman, Serenity could only nod. She shivered when her mother was out of sight and hurried for the teleport, eager to be away. She looked around warily, in case she was being watched, but seeing nothing that could indicate that it was so. In the blink of an eye she faded from sight.

From a window high above, a flash of red hastened away.

* * *

Endymion sat on a fallen section of wall in the ancient ruins, chucking small rocks at nothing in particular. It was dawn, and the five friends had extended their time away from the palace by the prince's command. He had endured no end of torment from Jadeite and Nephrite during the last twelve or more hours. Zoicite hadn't fared much better either.

"I still can't believe you didn't recognise her for what she was!"

There they went again. Jadeite hadn't let up since the Moon Princess had left their company the day before.

"For the last time Jad-"

"That's enough." came Malachite's firm reprimand. "It's bad enough that I have to go along with this idiocy in the first place," he continued, ignoring his liege's glare at the comment, "but I will not sit here listening to the two of you all night. Take your bickering elsewhere or I will have you running laps for the rest of the day when we return."

That shut them up.

"Of course, we all know why Endy was so determined to be here, don't we?" Nephrite said slyly after there had been a few minutes silence. It was his turn to be fixed with a glare from his prince, but he ignored it. "The stars know all my friend, it involves beautiful soft and silken hair that is like molten silver, and eyes as blue as two deep pools."

Jadeite and Zoicite both snickered; Nephrite often spoke in a poetic way because of his converse with the stars, and he used it to tease the others or to flirt with women. In this instance, he couldn't resist tormenting Endymion over something both he and the stars found blatantly obvious. Even Malachite was repressing a smirk, though the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Endymion glared at them all. "Traitors."

One golden-blond with green-blue eyes beamed a smile at him, one honey-blond with green eyes snorted, one brunet and one silver-blond smirked. "It's for your own good, Endy." Jadeite said.

"And yet you look a little too pleased with the whole thing." Endymion pointed out sulkily.

"A little too pleased with what?"

All five men froze, shocked at having been crept up upon by a slip of a girl. They had been so busy arguing that they hadn't even heard the hum of that infernal machine!

Serenity was standing on the platform, looking curiously at each face in turn. Her gown today was of the palest silver, the sleeves falling narrowly to her elbows, where they billowed out slightly. The material was so light that the slightest breeze lifted it. Her hair was styled as it had been the last time they had seen her, and at the party the time before that, only today the buns were ringed with white flowers that had the faintest blush of pink on the lips of their petals.

"Nothing, princess." Nephrite said smoothly, noticing the surprise in her eyes at having a welcoming committee. "We suspected you might return today and so decided to meet you here upon your arrival. Endymion thought you might need an escort through the Elysian Forest and he wanted to show you the temple here before you left again."

Endymion's glare this time was even less than half-hearted when he threw it at Nephrite.

"That's very kind of you all, thank you." she dropped into a graceful curtsy that on another woman they would have thought as false. When she lifted her head again the blue eyes sparkled and the Shitennou could instantly see why she had enchanted Endymion almost from the first second.

"Princess, if you don't mind my asking, where are your own guards?" Malachite asked her hesitantly.

Stiffening slightly, Serenity turned her eyes to the white-haired general. "My Senshi would . . ." she paused, then said delicately, "My Senshi would not approve of my presence here."

"But you used one of them to find out where we were." Zoicite pointed out gently.

"Yes, but that does not mean Mercury would let me come here. Terra is forbidden to the peoples of the Silver Alliance. I'm not sure why, but it is a law that has never needed enforcing, though everyone knows the penalty is high. If they knew I was here they would probably come only to take me back."

The four generals shared looks at that, not quite sure what to make of it.

Endymion, however, recovered his charm. "A pity they have no interest in Earth." he commented. "I'm sure that there would be something they would find interesting."

This was when Zoicite spoke up, and Serenity was grateful at the distraction as well as smiling at his obvious, genuine enthusiasm and curiosity.

"Princess, would you mind answering a few questions about the other planets? It's just that most of the literature we might have had on your kingdom has been destroyed and it's incredibly difficult to get my hands on any of the remaining information and-"

He stopped babbling when she doubled up in laughter. All five of them found themselves entranced by the sound, but while the Shitennou simply found it cute and endearing, if a little surprising considering how wary she had been around them previously, Endymion found it to be the most beautiful sound he'd heard.

"Please," she began, regaining control over her laughter, "Call me Serenity. Princess is just too formal and even my Senshi call me by name. It wouldn't do for you to call me Princess." when they all nodded she beamed at them, but still didn't reveal what she had found so damned funny. "Now, what questions do you have about our worlds?"

Zoicite bounced over and the two walked together, chatting about the different planets. Ten minutes later found Endymion was walking with the other three, putting up with Nephrite and Jadeite's teasing about the situation.

"Feeling a bit abandoned Endy are we?" Jadeite cooed.

Nephrite snorted. "Jealous more like."

"Oh shut up." Endymion huffed. Even Malachite snorted at the undignified response.

"So Venus is mostly meadow-lands?" Zoicite was incredibly intrigued about the differing geologies presented by the other planets in the system, and was seeing patterns between their landscapes and their peoples.

"Yes, and the odd jungle or two. It's all very . . . idyllic, in a way." Serenity thought of the planet she was trying to describe. "The sky is nothing like here though. I've never seen a sky so blue anywhere but Neptune. On Venus it's orange. So close to the sun, you know?"

Zoicite laughed. Kind of like a sunset here then." she gave him a confused look at that and he shook his head. "Never mind, so you've explained Venus to me, somewhat, what about Mars?"

She laughed. "A completely different world. It's entirely desert, with only one large ocean and small, occasional pockets of green. The sky is red during the day, purple at night. The people are kind of warlike because . . ."

Endymion was half-listening to her talk from a few feet behind.

"You know, I still find it unsettling that these people have stayed hidden for so long. The stars never once told me about them." Nephrite mused, watching as Jadeite joined in their discussion at the mention of the planet Mars.

"She explained that earlier." Malachite told him. "We couldn't sense them with our technology because they have managed to exceed our own advances in some ways, and the shields around each planet serve to protect them from forces without. Something about how a thousand or so years ago some very powerful beings were mighty interested in this system. Besides, you forget two things, the first being that your stars never give you a straight answer, and they don't tell you everything anyway."

"Why didn't we get a shield?" Endymion asked, though the question wasn't as sullen as it appeared.

"That's because Earth and the Alliance fell out with one another." Nephrite said quickly. "It's one of the few things Zoicite and I were able to find. It was only after that, Serenity says, that Mercury managed to develop the shields, and by that time contact had been forbidden. Instead they did occasional surveillances to check up on Earth."

"How does she know that?" Endymion questioned. He was a bit annoyed that they had spoken to her about these things and she had yet to speak to him.

"Because she finally paid attention to her studies yesterday and begged her tutor to tell her more about that time." the brunet star-gazer informed him with a grin. They tuned in to the trio ahead in time to catch something about lightning.

". . . and the gravity is very heavy there, much, much heavier than here. This planet is similar to my home world in that way, or to Mars. And if I remember what it was Lady Jupiter told me about her home . . ." she trailed off, thinking, then smiled. "I remember now. She said there are five storms on Jupiter every minute. Or was it Lady Mercury that said that?" she trailed off again.

"Lady Mercury sounds quite intelligent for one her age." Jadeite put in slyly with a side-long glance at Zoicite.

"She's older than me by about a year. In Lunarian years i'm sixteen." she said, thinking. "Then Lady Mars and Lady Venus are the same age, both seventeen or eighteen, actually I think they have the same birthday . . , how odd. Lady Jupiter is . . . nineteen I think. Yes, it must be something like that, because aside from myself they all follow a pattern."

"And what's the pattern?" Jadeite couldn't help himself.

"The closer you get to the central sun, the younger the heir to that throne. Next you have Lady Saturn. She's supposed to be twenty, but she's in slumber so . . . anyway, then Lady Uranus is twenty-three, Lady Neptune is twenty-four. Lady Pluto is older than any of us and is twenty-seven, though she looks closer to Neptune and Uranus' ages, but that could be because she's always so close to the Chronos Gates, my mother says the Time Senshi never have seemed to age the same as the others . . ."

They sensed her unwillingness to talk about the mysterious Lady of Saturn, and neither pushed the topic, for which she was grateful.

"Endymion," the sound of the taller, white-haired general brought the crowned prince to a slight pause. "You know as well as the rest of us that Lady Beryl has set her sights on you."

"Yes," the prince nodded, wondering why his friend brought it up.

"What will she do if she finds your heart belongs to another. And what's more, this young lady, charming as she is, is a moon child."

Endymion's protests about his feelings died in an icy feeling of cold realisation. Malachite was right. If Lady Beryl, witch that she was, found out about Serenity and the threat she might or might not pose to her, the woman would waste no time in hatching some insane scheme or other. But even if she didn't, his parents were pressing him to marry and settle down. How would he explain to them that the young lady he found so charming wasn't from their world, but from another entirely that was far more advanced than his own? It would not be an easy task.

They tuned into the conversation in front of them when Jadeite doubled over laughing. Zoicite, for some reason, didn't seem to share his humour and poor serenity looked a cross between upset and confused.

"Jad, if you keep that up you'll choke to death." Nephrite said, nonplussed.

"I hope he does choke to to death." Zoicite grumbled.

Serenity looked almost ready to burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, please, please don't be upset, I only meant that . . ." she quailed at the look on Zoicite's face.

"What happened?" Nephrite was still eyeing his brothers uncertainly. His question only seemed to make Jadeite laugh harder than ever. "Jad you're turning blue!"

"I . . . I love this girl." Jadeite gasped, still chuckling. He wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. "That was absolutely hilarious."

"Glad you think so." snapped Zoicite touchily. Then he caught sight of her expression and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't want to upset you."

"Yeah, his appearance is a touchy subject." Jadeite snorted.

The silver-haired sylph still looked confused, though her upset was slowly fading from her eyes. Now that the other three had been clued in Nephrite stepped in, trying to withhold his own laughter.

"Which was it? His gender or his age?"

Jadeite entered another round of laughter. "B-both!"

Malachite chuckled despite himself. "Well we did warn you that you could sometimes look a little like a girl, Zoicite."

"Oh she doesn't think he's a girl now." Jadeite smirked. "It was when she first met him that she thought that. It was his face when she told him." then he rounded on Zoicite. "But you set yourself up for that second fall my friend, you can't blame her, she looks younger than she is too you know."

The Moon Princess said nothing at that, and kept her face carefully blank, though Malachite, Nephrite and Endymion were quick to notice the slight hurt that flashed in her eyes at the comment. She was always being told that she looked like a girl only just entering the first blush of womanhood and not a young lady that was nearly at its end.

"It's fine, I meant no disrespect and neither did you." she said soothingly, back to her cheerful self already. "Now then you wanted to know about Mercury right?" when Zoicite nodded she began prattling on about the world of Arctic desert, similar and yet opposite of Mars as it wasn't a world of sand but of ice and snow.

Malachite smiled to himself at her deflection. She had managed to smooth over Zoicite's feelings, stopped both Jadeite andZoicite from fighting, and smoothed over her own hurt all without batting so much as an eyelid. And Malachite didn't think she was even entirely aware that she had done it!


	7. First Encounter

**Ok, so, i have to confess something, i'm a little concerned about part of this chapter. I think i made one of the characters a little OOC, but the people who've looked it over think that it's fine. It might just be me being paranoid again but who knows right lol. As it is, i couldn't think of much more to do with this chapter, so i'm uploading it for ya. **

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, read, faved/alerted, and all that jazz. You're keeping me going with this, so i hope i haven't spoiled it. **

* * *

**Chapter Six: First Encounter**

Raechal stood off to one side as she watched Mercury fiddle with the control panel in the dead of night. Every so often the slightly shorter, cerulean-haired young woman would switch her gaze to that of her miniaturised super-computer, tap away at that console, then refocus on her visor and the control panel.

Finally she stopped and sighed. The blue eyes were defeated. "I'm sorry, but I can find no trace of her destination. I don't know how, but Serenity has managed to erase all traces of her path."

"Could the Crystal have done this?" Raechal asked, eyeing the mechanism warily, like it was a viper ready to strike.

Another sigh. "I don't know. Nobody's ever tested the Imperium Silver Crystal's limits before. That's why its host is always so feared. There could be no end to what our princess can do." Mercury turned her eyes to meet Raechal's. "You look tired. Best go to bed. I'll be here for several hours yet. I have to unscramble this thing before the queen finds out."

Raechal nodded, but didn't move for at least another ten minutes. When she finally did turn away, her transformation came undone in a burst of flame to float away on the breeze, leaving behind her everyday uniform as opposed to her senshi uniform.

Amelia watched Mars leave, then heaved a sigh before returning to her task. This was all her fault; if she hadn't told Serenity what she wanted . . . But best to save that thought for another time. She flipped a ribbon back to its place behind her from where the breeze had blown it over her skirt. Now she had to focus on what she was doing. If only there was some way to fix this.

She slammed a hand down on the control panel in sheer frustration, glad that no one else was around to see her uncharacteristic outburst it wasn't until a minute later, when she had wiped away an angry, self-loathing tear, that she realised the platform was humming.

Warily, slowly, she approached the platform. Amelia touched it with the tip-toe of her blue boot. Nothing happened. She let out a breath in a short, relieved whoosh. It had just turned on, that was all. Nothing else.

Walking over to the control panel again, she now stood behind the thing, on the platform, and knelt down to have a look at the crystalline circuitry. Maybe something had gone wrong here? Seeing a few wires out of place, she put them back, then flipped a switch.

The platform glowed.

Uttering a shocked, fearful and quiet cry, Mercury jumped a foot back even as she faded from the view of the palace.

The glow died down, as did the faint hum of the infernal machine.

Everything was as it should have been, except for the open panel of wiring and the miniature super-computer lying beside it on the courtyard floor.

* * *

Serenity, Endymion and the prince's four friends and guards were just walking back through the gateway of the ruins when the Moon Princess's laughter and smile died on her lips. They all wondered for a brief second what had caused the look of outright fear in her eyes before she suddenly began to run forward without warning, long hair trailing behind her.

"Mercury!"

She knelt beside the still blue figure lying prone on the grass beside the platform. Endymion rushed forward, confusion warring with shock within him, to help her turn her friend over and make sure she was alright. The Shitennou were right behind him, though they too stopped short when Serenity, having succeeded on her own, began lightly tapping the unconscious girl's face and brushing blue bangs from the pale brow.

The hair was short, only slightly longer than Jadeite's, a beautiful dark cerulean like the clear winter skies in late evening or the water in the far North. The skin was snowy pale, the pale pink lips relaxed though they looked as though they might usually be stern. She was roughly the same height as the Princess, and clothed in an outfit they found odd and slightly indecent; the skirt being immensely short, the boots knee-high, the bodice tight. White gloves ribbed at the elbows in blue like the skirt and collar, the boots the same shade and tipped at the knee with a stripe the same paler blue as the two bows that adorned her costume. The tiara had a sapphire jewel, a slim oval, that matched the circular one at her breast. Two small sapphire studs sparkled from her ears in the dappled light.

"Mercury, please, wake up." Serenity looked like she was about to cry as she looked up at Endymion. "It's Lady Mercury, one of my senshi. I don't know how she got here or . . . or what's happened." a single tear slipped down her own pale face.

The girl in her arms moaned slightly, but remained unconscious.

"It looks like she tripped and fell." he told her, touching one pale cheek carefully. He brushed aside a few bangs and found the beginnings of a small bruise just above her left ear. "She must have fallen back when she arrived, probably hit her head on a piece of rubble." he thought he could see the offending rock now. "Zoicite, could you get a cloth and some water from one of the packs?"

No answer.

He turned to spy Zoicite staring at the fallen girl with a mixed, confusing expression on his young face that Endymion found almost unreadable.

"Zoicite!"

The dusky green eyes snapped to Endymion as their owner snapped to attention. "Sire?"

"The rag." Endymion said pointedly, giving Jadeite and Nephrite a stern look when he heard them begin to snicker. Zoicite blushed faintly, nodded, and bent to retrieve the requested items from one of the packs that they had dropped a little behind them.

Endymion's look became sterner still, almost threatening, when Jadeite doubled up in silent laughter. The blond at least had the decency to look contrite when he saw the prince's thunderous expression.

Zoicite returned with a wet, slightly wrung out cloth and a canteen. He handed the items to Endymion, who said nothing about this action; Zoicite was usually the one to tend to the injured, not Endymion himself. He held the cloth to the girl's temple as he dripped some water onto her closed eyelids.

Serenity bent her head and whispered into the comatose girl's ear, so quietly that Endymion couldn't catch a word of what she said. Her crescent moon flashed gold briefly, which was answered by the sapphire oval of the tiara flashing as well, then the girl began to stir.

Amelia's mind began to crawl its way from darkness at the feel of the familiar element and at the sound of a familiar voice whispering her name; her _true_ name.. _'Infernal thing, must be broken. How in the entire alliance did that happen . . . oooow . . . wh-why does my head hurt so badly?'_

Her eyes opened slowly, only slightly at first, so that one could see only the barest trace of colour and shine beneath the pale lids, but then they fluttered to halfway-open, revealing the deep blue colour of her irises, now slightly darkened by confusion and pain. They locked instantly with those of her princess.

"S . . . Serenity?" her voice was weak, without a single trace of its usual frostiness to be found. "What happened? Whe-where am I?" she added, catching sight of unfamiliar sky above her.

"Shh," gesturing for Endymion to move back slightly, she began to soothe her confused friend. "You're alright. You had a fall, that's all. You must have hit your head when you fell from the platform."

Endymion moved the cloth away again to check on the bruising, and was shocked to find it was fading even as he watched. His own eyes found the forms of the two girls warily. Just what _were_ these two? The blue sapphire was still glowing slightly, though only faintly, and with each passing second Mercury's eyes became less clouded and the bruise faded. Then it ceased to glow altogether, and the bruise was gone.

Zoicite was frozen where he stood. So this was Lady Mercury, the Senshi of ice that Serenity had mentioned a few times in passing both that day and the one before. He had imagined her to be colder, but supposed that the knock to her head must be making her groggy. But more than anything it was the eyes that held him, and they kept their hold even as they turned to him, now looking much more alert though still not fully awake.

Those sapphire orbs widened perceptibly as they travelled first to him, then to his comrades beside him, then to his liege. He could see the build-up of a scream and then she seemed to swallow the sound before it made it even halfway up her throat.

Lady Mercury had just had a rude, mind-numbing awakening.

And down came a solid sheet of icy cool behind those eyes like a steel wall had slammed into place.

"Princess," her voice was now as cold as the Arctic Circle, wary, untrusting and firm. "_Where_ are we?"

Serenity swallowed when those eyes turned back to her face and made no move to stop Lady Mercury even as she moved to sit up.

"Welcome to Earth, Lady Mercury, I am Prince Endymion and . . ." he trailed off as those cold, cold eyes turned to him, and he finally caught Serenity's frantic movements to stop talking immediately from behind this young woman.

"Earth." the name wasn't spoken as a query. She returned her gaze to her princess, who was doing her best to look calm and cool herself. "Terra." she corrected.

Serenity flinched.

With a heavy sigh, Mercury wrenched her anger back under control and stood, slowly to make sure she didn't topple over and further embarrass herself in front of these people. "Princess, I think your curiosity has been satisfied, has it not. It is time to go home." she folded her arms and stood, looking suddenly frightening at her tiny height of what Malachite and the others guessed couldn't be more than five feet four.

Serenity stood as well, and suddenly her eyes were dark and her tone commanding in a way they had never dreamed they could be."No."

They all saw Mercury flinch. "Princess, I must insist that you return to the Lunar Palace with me, immediately. If you are caught here-"

"I won't be caught here. I've been here before and I wasn't caught here."

"Mars saw you use that infernal machine to get here tonight!" Mercury snapped. "If she could see you who else might have done? Your reputation is already tarnished, Princess, do not reduce it further."

Serenity made as though she would have slapped Mercury then, and the icy senshi wasn't the only person to flinch at the twitch of hand.

Mercury raised a couple of fingers to her temple as though her headache was making itself known. It probably was, Zoicite reasoned. When next she spoke, her voice was quieter, though not at all softer, and she seemed to be speaking through gritted teeth.

"You have to return, Princess. I do not want to have to fetch Mars, Jupiter and Venus here just to drag you back kicking and screaming like the spoiled brat you are acting like right now. You place your guards in danger by your own selfishness."

The resounding slap echoed through the forest.

The men all watched the display dumbfounded. Serenity's pretty face was scowling in anger, her eyes noticeably darker than normal. Her very aura radiated anger, displeasure, and rippled with power. "Watch your words, Sailor Mercury. I will not have you speak to me in such a way. Especially in front of others." she lowered her hand, though the dark look remained. "I am your princess, and as such I deserve to be spoken to with respect. I shall pretend that your words were the result of your injury, Sailor Mercury, but I shall not tolerate such insolence from one of my guards."

Mercury kept her head turned away, the mark on her cheek stinging bitterly. She felt the prickle of tears beginning to form and waited until they had receded and her breathing had calmed. When her eyes met Serenity's once more they were not just merely cold. They were lifeless.

"Forgive me, Princess. I was out of line. But you must return before your absence is noted by the court, and by your mother. Do not make me lie to them all again" her voice was as dead as her eyes, the ice back in her voice completely, and it made Zoicite feel both fearful and angry with her Princess for causing this reaction.

Endymion simply didn't know what to make of this new Serenity, and resolved to ask her about it the next time she was here. _If_, that is, she ever returned again.

They watched with mixed emotions as Sailor Mercury tapped an earring and a visor flashed into place across her face, then she turned and walked away from the platform towards the trees. A few feet away from the trees, she stopped and stood still, raised her gloved arms above her as though cupping something between them and closed her eyes. Her clothes and hair began to move despite there being no breeze, and with a sudden flash of blue, she was gone.

"You will have to forgive Sailor Mercury." Serenity's voice, still cool and clearly angry, made them turn back to the girl. "She doesn't like to be proven wrong, nor does she like to lose control. I believe the teleport may have acted up when she was using it and brought her here."

"Is she alright?" the words had fallen from Zoicite's lips before he could think to stop them. Serenity gave him an odd look that in some way mirrored those of his brothers-in-arms.

There was a long, tense silence before Serenity seemed to relax and a strange look came into her eyes.

"Mercury will be fine. She is not normally like that, it's usually Mars or Venus, sometimes Jupiter, who say such things." the reply was both dismissive and reassuring, an odd mix much like the young woman who stood before them. "She is right, though. I must get back. It wouldn't do to be found lingering on a forbidden planet."

Endymion nodded slowly, refusing to take offence at her words, or at the words of her guard; to them, this place was forbidden, and both had broken a taboo in coming here. "Will you return?"

The smile she gave him was soft and dazzling. "Of course, but perhaps not for a few days. Lady Mercury is upset, and it isn't wise to cause her further stress."

He was glad to see the darkness finally lifting from her eyes, and with it the formality.

"Until the future." she curtsied low to them all and turned to follow Mercury's path, vanishing in the usual assortment of pearly, silvery stars.


	8. Curiouser & Curiouser

**OK, so 7th chapter is now here for your inspection. I take it from the lack of reviews for the last one that i was right and Mercury was a little OOC. I'll probably try to fix that. For the moment let's just say it was the concussion talking and leave it at that. sorry if it disappointed but at the time it was the best i could do.**

**This has only partially been proof-read, so i apologise for any mistakes i've made. If you spot a serious one don't be afraid to point it out. But from here on in you'll start to notice that things begin changing slightly :D**

**Enjoy x**

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**Chapter Seven: Curiouser and Curiouser . . .**

And so it was that both Lady Venus and Lady Jupiter returned to the Lunar Palace after their allotted two week's leave to find, not only their Princess acting peculiar, but Lady Mercury acting _very_ peculiar indeed as well and poor Lady Mars completely confused by both young women.

Refusing to speak of the events that had happened at all, Lady Mercury devoted all her energy to fulfilling her queen's orders and steadfastly ignoring whatever had happened. Never had the others seen this stubborn, almost wilful side to their normally quiet, calm and collected comrade. Since they had no idea what had caused this abrupt change in her demeanour, the other three decided to let it be, for the time being, and watched her carefully.

Their princess was still acting dreamier than normal, but whenever she was around the Mercurian her mood changed too; she became more distant, sometimes downright cold. But she was always polite, though they noticed a guarded edge to her behaviour that hadn't been there before.

But what surprised Mina was something she barely noticed until a full week later. A new ribbon of light, barely there and in the first stages of awakening. A faint red like an echo of the pure bright ribbon that she had already discussed with Lady Jupiter, the one that bound her princess to some unknown male. Or female, she amended; the princess could be inclined that way. And Serenity had admitted that one of the guards that had come several years ago with the Kinmokun delegation had been pretty cute. What had that girl's name been again . . . Freya? Sarah? Maya? That was it! _Seiya_.

But what surprised her even more was who it was connected to; Lady Mercury.

"You seem awfully pensive for a Venusian." Mina turned her head to see the slim waist of Lady Mars at her eye level from her place on the divan. She raised her eyes until they met the fiery violet orbs.

"Despite popular belief, Venusians do know how to sit still and quiet, and we do know how to think." she hadn't intended for it to come out so much like a barb, but she couldn't stop herself from bristling.

Pale hands raised themselves in a warding gesture. "That wasn't what I meant."

Mina's golden eyebrows arched in disbelief; an apology, from Lady Mars? Would wonders never cease?

"Ok, so maybe in a way it was, but admit it, you Venusians don't really spend a lot of time sitting still and staring off into space."

Mina inclined her head, admitting defeat in that small way. "True enough. I'm thinking about the way Lady Mercury has been lately."

"She confuses me." Mars admitted in a way that was almost sheepish. "She has always been so cool. Calm. Now she snaps at every little thing. I don't get it."

"You were relieved when Jupiter and I got back, weren't you." Mina observed absently. Then she shook herself and smiled brightly. "Anyway, you and Mercury will be going away on leave in a few weeks, and we have jobs to do. Let's not get distracted."

Raechal watched the blonde as she got up and walked out of the room with a bemused expression on her face.

The room they two had been talking in was a central common room, more specifically the central common room for the Princess and her senshi. It was here that they took meals together, spoke, relaxed with each other, and got to know each other.

There was a fireplace, and right now, in the cool evening twilight, it was lit. The flames beckoned to her called her. Coaxing and demanding. She stood and walked over, kneeling before the flames. A hot, glowing tendril floated away from the rest and wrapped around her outstretched hand, a gesture of both comfort and persuasion. She gazed into the flames, and the images came to her almost immediately.

_Shadows and blood creeping along a battlefield. A kingdom in ruins._

_The image of a rose, blooming to its full beauty, then withered and dying. But then it bloomed again like a phoenix would arise from the ashes._

_A circle evenly divided between black and white, a sense of completion._

_A ribbon of red, flowing and ethereal, but always there, always connecting two souls. It multiplied, and then there were five such ribbons. But there was no sight of where they led; only the side nearest had any sort of indications; a silver moon in its first slim crescent and a snowflake were each attached to a thread._

_An orb of bright blue and lush green, brightening at first, and healthy, but slowly consumed by shadows._

_Blonde hair and blue-green eyes that would normally be laughing, but right now were surprised, shocked, even wary. "Who are you?"_

With a start, Raechal tumbled from the visions and from the flames, her heart pounding in her breast. He had spoken! She had seen his mouth move, and that was his voice! But how could he speak to her through the flames unless . . .

No, no that was just ridiculous. There was absolutely no possible way that someone from that planet could be anything like she was . . . was there? But the vision . . . it seemed to be telling her something. Something about Terra. Something as sweet and inviting as it was a warning.

Shaking her head, Raechal stood and dusted off her tunic to get rid of the soot. No, it had just been a part of the vision, that was all. Her knees were not weak at the sound of his voice or the sight of his eyes. Nope, not at all.

Raechal wasn't falling for a vision.

She snorted at the mere idea. If her intuition was correct about the message, then he was a Terran. And if he was a Terran, he was beneath her, and so unworthy of her notice. So really, what was she making such a fuss over?

Except that all five ribbons headed _towards_ that planet.

The realisation struck her and she hastened to find Venus.

* * *

Jadeite shook his head wearily as he left his personal quarters. Another vain attempt at reading the flames, a talent he barely held onto. It seemed that the mysterious beauty, whoever she was, had far more of that skill in her hands than he could hope to hold in his life.

Yet again he saw the violet eyes, still misted from their trance, look at him first in confusion, then in surprise. Surprise was quickly followed by, of all things, fear. Then by anger that made her eyes flame.

"_You again!"_

He barely resisted the smile that her voice summoned to his lips. So much passion in that voice and those eyes, eyes that seemed both young and infinitely older than he could imagine. He dreamed about those eyes now, each and every night. He knew who they belonged to, for in the last few weeks Serenity had come each day, alone as always, and the Shitennou had become fond of her despite the rare display of anger she had presented the one and only time any of her senshi had made it to Earth by accident. She had described in detail each of her main court of four, and even the three who spent more time in solitude than in the company of others. He knew the eyes belonged to Lady Mars.

But as close as the Shitennou were to the visiting Moon Princess, Endymion was far closer to her. And she was growing closer to him each passing day.

A tired sigh passed his lips and he looked up at the full moon that rode the sea of clouds above, like some beautiful, mysterious, alluring phantom. To see it filled him both with longing and foreboding. He was fond of the Princess, they all were, but even he couldn't deny the danger her presence brought. If she was discovered, she would likely be in danger, and the Shitennou for harbouring what some scholars would call a "celestial witch."

They had no idea of how Endymion's rank and standing would affect his outcome, but his brothers-in-arms knew that he felt more for the Moon Princess than just a passing friendship. It was still a feeling in its infancy, true, but how much longer until it bloomed? Her senshi, at least, would have something to say about it, if they ever found out. Serenity's mother would undoubtedly would have something to say about it. Endymion's parents, and the entire planet, would definitely have something to say about it.

How cruel of fate, to bring two souls together when the rest of their worlds would tear them apart in less time than it would take for Jadeite to blink.

He wandered the halls until he came to the garden, and the moonlight revealed that he was not the only one abroad at this late hour.

"Nephrite." he greeted the darker-haired young man as politely as his weary mind would allow.

The western Shitennou looked up in surprise as the blond lay next to him on the grass. "Jadeite, I didn't expect you to still be up." he paused, then added, "What _are_ you doing up? You're as obsessive as Zoicite when it comes to sleep."

"I'm hoping your stars will speak to me more than that damned fire will." Jadeite replied stubbornly, barely blinking when Nephrite laughed.

"They rarely speak to me, and I am one of the few that can read them." he chuckled, but stopped and watched his friend carefully when Jadeite's own laugh didn't sound. "What's wrong?" he said at last, his tone weary and expectant.

Jadeite frowned to think that Nephrite knew something of his troubles already. "The fire threw me out again."

Shaking his head, Nephrite sighed. "Is it really the fire that has you so put out, or is it _her_?"

The only response to that was a frown for several heavy, tense minutes. Nephrite merely waited them out, knowing that Jadeite would speak soon enough. The stars had told him all about the fiery creature that commanded the flames Jadeite had barely begun to coax.

"I don't get it!" he exploded quietly, at last. "I have done nothing to offend that woman, not even at that damned ball! If she throws me out of my fire one more time i'll-"

"Whoa, whoa. Are you saying that Lady Mars is kicking you out of the flames?" The hazel eyes were wide in true surprise now.

"It has to be, I know when i've lost control of them myself, and I am being thrown out of them."

Nephrite restrained a chuckle; the pout on Jadeite's face was the epitome of sulky-schoolboy, but the blond would only be incensed by this. "And why would she do that?"

"Because I seem to have angered her in some way, even though I haven't done anything I can remember that might have possibly offended her."

Now he did chuckle. "It seems you have discovered that which vexes all men, my friend." he said mysteriously, lying back on the cool grass to watch the stars. He could hear their whispers, but on this topic they didn't even have some mystically irritating answer for him. They were, oddly, ignoring him.

Jadeite turned his sulky ocean gaze to the taller man. "Oh, and what might that be?" he said sarcastically.

The other ignored the bite of the words, knowing they were from frustration alone. "Women."

As though in prompt to his words, the stars gave him a tantalising glimpse of emeralds again. He scowled at them. "Very funny."

"What is?" Jadeite had been quiet with the mention of the fairer sex, and he was curious now as to what his brother was scowling about.

But Nephrite shook his head. "What are you going to do about the little firefly?"

Scoffing, Jadeite replied, "There's not much I can do, is there? She's up there and i'm . . ." he paused and his eyes turned softer, "I'm down here."

The stars offered another vision, a vision of fiery red and passion and heat.

"Something tells me, little brother, that that is a circumstance about to change."

The stars smiled.

* * *

Mars had gone to bed; Mina had had to order her to, but there was nothing that the fiery senshi could do in her state. Mina had never seen her so emotional before except when angered, but Mars wasn't angry at all; she was panicking.

And now Mina was watching around a corner, swathed in heavy black velvet, watching over the teleport.

Boring.

She sighed and checked her communicator. Shortly after receiving them, Mercury had taken all four of them and done some sort of upgrade. They could do all sorts of fancy things now; locate one of the others, tell the time, though only Mercury knew how to use the scanning function beyond checking the immediate area for enemies or spies.

It was late. According to Mars, Serenity always made an appearance here at dusk, to go off to wherever it was she disappeared to at night. The only thing stopping Mina from giving her a sound scolding was the thought that it was one of the noblemen from the ball, besides the queen didn't seem too disturbed by her daughter's disappearances at night.

But Mina was. How was she supposed to protect the princess if she had no idea where she was going? It completely destroyed the point of her duties, and the duties of Lady Mars, Lady Mercury and Lady Jupiter. She was no longer angry at Mars for not telling her sooner, though she had to wonder why Mercury had gone frigidly silent on the topic.

So absorbed in her musings was Mina, that she didn't hear anything until the teleport hummed. Looking carefully around the corner, she saw Serenity by the control panel. Now that was a surprise; none of them had realised that she even knew how to work it!

Serenity disappeared in the muted glow of the teleport, and Mina counted in her head. She counted five minutes before she headed for the teleport, and used the panel to head to the co-ordinates Serenity had used. Mina didn't recognise the name that headed the co-ordinates, but no matter. Serenity was going and so was she.

For one precious second, after she had stepped onto the glowing platform and been transported away, she had feared discovery and that someone would see her arrival. She needn't have worried, for she arrived in time to see her princess's form fad into the shadows of a forest. Accompanied by another, much taller figure.

Mina frowned as she moved swiftly into shadows lest either one turn to look behind them. That guy had to be taller than Jupiter! And Jupiter was no short-stuff either. Being ever mindful of her surroundings, which reminded her strongly of both her own home-world and the Jovian's planet, she trailed the pair through the forest, bright blue eyes carefully averted from looking at either form directly so that they wouldn't feel watched.

She followed them through the trees, which slowly grew denser and denser with each step she took. Then, suddenly, she found herself staring at a gap in a tall hedge dotted with bright white, pink and yellow blooms. The gap was small enough that she doubted many knew it was even there, and an identical hedge seemed to be standing opposite this one.

Gingerly, Mina took a step forward and found herself standing on a narrow path. Her princess and the stranger were nowhere in sight.

Frowning, she removed her communicator again and set it to the tracker function. Mercury had programmed their princess's energy signature, so remarkably different from everyone else's due to her bond with the Silver Crystal, into the devices' memories. There!

She followed the directions given to her, and in no time realised what she had failed to at first sight.

It was a maze of flowers! Similar to the one in the Lunar Palace gardens that their princess loved so much, the same one the senshi used to train in sometimes. The heady scent surrounded her, embracing and intoxicating, and purely on impulse she leaned closer to one of the living walls and smelled a yellow bloom.

The sound of laughter met her ears and she snapped out of her beautiful daydream, her soldier's persona moving back into place. Edging round a corner, her blue eyes widened at what they saw.

Serenity was indeed with a young man, a young man who looked so totally her opposite it was uncanny. Slightly messy black hair and dark eyes with a tan, so unlike her pale and ethereal princess. But Serenity looked so happy! And she was laughing at something he had said to her.

Nearby, standing in front of another entrance to what her communicator told her was the centre of the maze – the only other way in or out besides the one in which Mina hid now – was a young man only a little taller than Lady Jupiter, dressed in a grey uniform so light in colour it was almost white, with a long white cape attached at his shoulder by green jewelled broaches and lined with pale mint green silk. His hair was a honeyed blond and his eyes were as green as the dusky emeralds on his shoulder, laughing and smiling.

But he wasn't the one who had come with her princess. Where was that person? They were taller than this blond, much, _much_ taller.

The only warning she had was a slight whistle of air.

Instinct took over, and she summoned her chain of light and metal as Sailor Venus even as she rolled away. Using the chain as a shield, holding it taught between her gloved hands, she countered each strike. Sparks flew, her blue eyes narrowed. This one was good.

"Malachite, that's enough."

The barrage stopped as suddenly as it had arrived.

The man standing before her was, undoubtedly, the one who had escorted her princess here. He was even taller than she had thought, and his hair was long, falling to the bottom of his ribcage in a straight sheet of platinum. Light blue eyes, icy in their colour, watched her with a trace of amusement in their cool depths, a stark contrast to the dark tone of his skin that spoke of long hours in a hot desert sun. his uniform was identical to his comrade's except that the jewels were ice-blue topazes that matched his eyes, the piping on his uniform and the lining of his cloak made to match the stones' pale colour.

"Venus, stand down."

At her princess's voice, in that cool, commanding tone she rarely used, Mina allowed her body to relax, coming out of her defensive stance with the chain ready to fly.

"Do all your senshi wear those skirts?" It was a voice she wasn't familiar with already, but Mina guessed it belonged to the honey-blond with the green eyes.

"Yes, it's the senshi fuku, why?"

"Aren't they a bit short?"

"They are this short to allow for maximum movement." Venus replied dismissively even before Serenity had opened her mouth to speak in reply to him again. Giving the giant before her one last glance over, she turned her back on him, dismissing him from her mind. Or so it appeared; in truth she was very acutely aware of the man.

The green-eyed man inclined his head to her in acknowledgement, though his eyes sparkled with humour. The tallest of them moved around her and took a position along a wall.

"Princess, I must ask you to return to the Lunar Palace with me at once." Venus began, watching her chain shrink before she tied it around her waist loosely, like a belt. It had stopped glowing by now, and the heart-shaped links were amber-studded. "It is only a few hours before morning, and if you wish to avoid detection I suggest we leave now."

Serenity looked at her, a little confused. "You aren't angry?"

Mina gave her a long, searching look, her internal alarm now going off. "Should I be?" she raised one golden brow in question.

"Your comrade was." the voice was a deep baritone that made her entire soul thrum in response. She ignored the reaction, albeit with a measure of her own confusion that he could produce it, and looked at him blankly until he continued; "Your comrade Lady Mercury was rather upset to discover the Princess Serenity here."

Mercury knew about this? Guess that explained the girl's strange behaviour. Already knowing the answer, she replied "And where, exactly, _is_ here?" she turned sky blue eyes to the dark young man that had made Serenity laugh.

Looking into her blue eyes, Endymion saw that she knew. Oh yes, Lady Venus knew exactly where she was; she just wanted a verbal confirmation. What he wanted to know, was what side was this one going to fall on?

Instinct told him that anything less than honesty with this creature would be the worst mistake he could make.

So, ignoring Serenity's pleading expression to stay quiet and not say anything, he stood and gave her a low, courtly bow. "Allow me to introduce myself, Lady Venus. I am Endymion, Crowned Prince of Earth. These are two of my Shitennou, Lord Zoicite," the honey-blond bowed to her, "and Lord Malachite." The giant inclined his head, which made Endymion frown at him.

"I already know I am on Earth." she said pleasantly. "The control panel of the teleport was set for Earth. But I don't recall that name being in the directory. So I guess what i'm really asking is," her eyes, unreadable for the moment, turned to Serenity, "What is the _Alliance_ name for this world?"

Serenity swallowed. If Lady Venus chose, she could report Serenity's activities to her mother, for the royalty of Venus were close to the Moon Queen and had Selenity's ear. But she was the senshi of love, so perhaps . . . perhaps she could understand.

"The name you know this world by," she began, speaking slowly and clearly and looking her guard in the eye, "is Terra."

Time stood still for the barest of minutes. The whole maze seemed to still, listening and waiting.

Mina said nothing for several minutes. She closed her eyes, then opened them again, and the Terrans were startled to see that what was once blue was now brilliant, glowing, sparkling gold. She looked at each person present in turn, though her gaze lingered on Serenity and Endymion as well as the space between them. The hairs on the men's necks stood up as the atmosphere in the little courtyard suddenly became charged slightly.

In her new vision, tapping in to both her empathy and her other gift, she sensed wariness as well as protectiveness in those around her. Blocking out the multitude of light-ribbons she could see all around her, she focused on the four people in front of her now.

The first thing to jump out at her was the overwhelming presence of the colour pink. From the two lords to her princess, as well as from Mina herself to Serenity, there were pink ribbons of light, a bond similar to, but not the same as, that between siblings. These two men were fond her her princess like two brothers might be fond of a little sister.

The second thing to catch her attention, and Mina wasn't sure whether to be happy, angry or sad, was the presence of a strong, bright scarlet-red ribbon connecting Endymion to Serenity. Another, more faded ribbon of red connected Zoicite to somewhere above the stratosphere, heading in the direction that instinct told her led to the Moon. It was barely there, obviously new and right now it wasn't very strong.

Lady Mars had seen both in one of her visions, which had surprised and worried Mina greatly for some reason.

But there was a third red light-ribbon beginning to form now. And one end connected to her own heart. The other . . .

Shaking her head as though it would shake the thoughts from her mind, Mina switched off her gifts and gave Endymion a long, measuring look. He returned it steadily, though she could see the tension coiling behind his dark eyes.

Finally, she smiled wearily. "Princess, if we do not leave now we will be discovered." She walked up to her princess and, taking the cloak that had fallen to the ground in the attack, twirled it around Serenity's shoulders. "And if you are discovered then how do you return?"

Serenity squealed in delight and threw her arms around Venus's neck. The senshi chuckled and hugged her before shooing her princess off. Almost skipping with happiness, the Moon Princess faded as she exited the small courtyard.

Her charge now out of sight, Venus turned her eyes, once more their usual blue, to the Terran Prince. "My duty is to protect my princess and to ensure she is happy. If you make my duty any more difficult than it already is, in any way, I will run you through with the Moonstone Sword." she held out her hand, which he tentatively held in his own, nodding, but when he tried to pull away she pulled his arm back to her, and he looked down at her in confusion.

"And," she continued, "If you take advantage of the forming bond between you and she, in any way, or break her heart, I shall let the others deal with you instead."

Malachite and Zoicite had moved closer, standing on either side of their prince. The former looked somewhere between irritated and amused, the latter amused and confused. Endymion nodded, and shook her hand more firmly this time. "On my honour as the Crowned Prince, and my honour as a man, I will not break her heart, Lady Venus."

The smile his words produced was blinding. "Good, then I shall have no reason to draw your blood." gone was the stern senshi, and in her place was a beautiful smiling blonde who didn't look like she could hurt a fly. If Endymion hadn't seen her counter Malachite, he wouldn't have thought she could handle a weapon at all. "Farewell, Prince Endymion."

She inclined her head to his two guards and turned on her orange heel, the fuku fading into a pale yellow tunic and cape as she walked before she faded into yellow-orange sparkles.

Zoicite blinked. "Did she just . .. . threaten you? And ignore Mal?"

Endymion nodded, a wry smirk touching his lips. "Yes, she did. Very interesting, those senshi. Wouldn't you say Malachite?"

The silver-blond gave him a look, and if he had been anyone else he probably would have snorted. "They aren't doing their job properly. She managed to sneak past them down here." his ice-blue eyes sought the slim crescent moon rising over the horizon and his gaze became even more unreadable than normal. Then, without a word, he walked away.

"I believe that might be code for, 'why yes, they are interesting'." Zoicite mimicked as Malachite left.

Laughing, Endymion slung an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Of course, and of course we can't remind him about all the times I slipped by him to go exploring, even if he did catch me up in the end."

Zoicite muffled a chuckle in his sleeve. "Maybe those two are more alike than we think."

Meanwhile, up on the White Moon, Venus had escorted her princess to her chambers. "If you're going to sneak out every night, you need at least a few hours' sleep." she lectured. "It's no wonder Mercury is so annoyed if you were sneaking off to that place without her knowing. What happened to her?"

"She hit her head. We found her and . . . she said some awful things." serenity looked down, her hand resting on the handle of her door. "I said some awful things. I did something awful."

Venus watched her carefully before sighing and turning away. "I'll have a word with her. But don't think that just because i'll let you go back it means i'm letting you off the hook princess. Tomorrow I am calling a meeting in our shared common room. You will be there, princess."

Serenity watched with an odd feeling as the blonde walked away and Venus' last words floated back to her, barely a whisper in the silence.

"We will talk about this then."


	9. Conditions

**Ok, so, this took a while to churn out in dribs and drabs, but hopefully this isn't too bad of an attempt. If it is please don't kill me, my proof-reader - also the guy i bounce ideas off of from time to time - is away and no one else wanted to help me. *sniffles***

**Ok, self-pity-party over. This took so long mainly because i'm stressed out, thanks to the JobCentre, because they think i'm a damn mind-reader and don't deign to tell me everything i need to know, or they tell me one thing when really it's another. Sheesh, what's a gal to do to get a little honesty around here?**

**Anyways, we get to see a little more of the boys, and the girls, so everybody's happy right? Yes? Good. Then let's get on with this shindig already so i can finally get around to the next chapter of my Naruto fic that i've been postponing for over a month. Bad Ebony, very bad. Ah well. ^.^**

**Enjoy! Eb x**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Conditions**

Amelia was the last to enter their shared common room. Venus met her gaze steadily and she flinched slightly. The blunette thought she was still lucky not to have been exiled, no matter what Venus had said to her the night before. Reprimands and reassurances. What good would they do in the end?

Serenity wasn't there yet; Venus wanted to talk with the other three first.

Waiting until Mercury took a seat, Mina sighed and stood. "Now that you're all here, I call this meeting into session. Mercury, could you . . .?" she gestured to the doors and windows.

The ice senshi nodded, understanding. The doors suddenly iced over as Mercury's visor flashed into place, scanning for eavesdroppers and spy tech. "We're alone."

Nodding, Mina paced the open space between them all for a minute or so in an attempt to gather her thoughts. "You all know that the Princess has been acting strangely. Yesterday Mars read the flames and she saw what I see. She saw ribbons of light connecting hearts. Normally, that would be curious enough, except there was an even more curious detail in the vision."

The others were all quiet, listening. Not that they had any choice; Mina was their commander.

"Mars saw who these ribbons were connected to, in a way. But only one half of each pair, and she only saw two that had begun to activate. The brightest of the pair was . . . _is_, attached to our Princess. The other isn't as strong, and is attached to Mercury."

Jupiter looked surprised by the last statement but not by the first, which was expected because Mina had discussed their princess with her before. Mars was impassive. Mercury shocked.

"These two ribbons are crimson red, symbolising a bond of love. Soul-depth love." Mina added warily, watching for their reactions.

Mercury had now gone, if possible, even paler. Jupiter looked bemused. Mars was still impassive, though a fiery glint had entered her smouldering purple eyes.

"The other ends of these ribbons, of which the total Mars saw is five, couldn't be traced. But she saw where they lead." she looked out the window on purpose, and allowed her eyes to linger on that planet she could see there, but not her thoughts; they had done enough lingering for one night.

"What?" it was uttered by Jupiter, and the bemused expression had been wiped from her face, replaced with pure shock and just a hint of fear.

"Last night, our princess did what she has been doing ever since she was given the information she has. She visited this planet, and met the one she sought."

"What?" the word was spoken stronger now, but still not above normal level. Mina pitied Mercury; the Jovian member of their team was quite explosive when she wanted to be.

"This person is the same young man that her mother believes she has been secretly meeting. It is the same one she asked Mercury to search for, though neither knew where the chase would lead at the time. The same person who, with two of his guards, crashed our Princess's birthday celebrations over a month ago."

Jupiter was quiet, Mercury guilt-ridden. Mars just looked tired now, which Mina thought just about summed up how she felt too.

"I followed our Princess last night to her destination. There is a new planet in the directory, or so it appears. In fact it is just a re-naming of a world already there. One which, by all accounts, should have been deleted. Our princess re-named it to protect her secret. Earth is the name that the Terrans call their world."

"_What_?" Jupiter stood up so fast that the others barely saw her move. Her green eyes were sparking and her hair crackled with lightning. "You mean to say that she's been sneaking off to . . . to . . . why the hell didn't anybody stop her?" the green eyes flashed, accusingly, from face to face. Mars and Mina remained unruffled by her outburst, but Mercury's head fell lower.

"During my trip there last night to retrieve Serenity, I saw the bonds for myself." Mina said quietly. Jupiter's eyes snapped to her face, and Mina saw the reason for the anger; fear. "The bond between Serenity and Prince Endyimion, Crowned Prince of Terra, is so strong now that I doubt we could tear them apart. His Shitennou have become as fond of her as we are. I saw the other end to Mercury's red ribbon of fate. And I saw another begin to awaken. This third ribbon is attached to myself."

Silence reigned. Mars finally showed emotion; a fair degree of shock. Jupiter looked like she was trying to summon the strength to argue but was rapidly losing steam and the fight; she slowly sank back onto the cushions of her chair, eyes unseeing.

"So, what can we do?" Jupiter was calm again, but only in the face of a seemingly impossible situation. Mina had no doubt that the Jovian could and would snap back with a bite.

A sigh escaped the blonde's lips. "About the bond? About our princess's secret?" another sigh. "Absolutely nothing except our duty. It's too late to stop it, the wheels are already in motion. All we can do is see where this journey will take us."

Snorting, Jupiter sulked. "It'll take us straight to the prison cells and the executioner's block."

The comment caused a quirk to appear on Mars' lips as she struggled not to smirk.

"I know none of you agree that we should let this continue, but right now we have no choice." Mina paced as she spoke. "All we can do right now is keep her secret and accompany her whenever she goes there. We'll discuss it with her when she arrives here. Mars, Mercury,"

They looked at her.

"I know you're both about to return to your home-worlds, so I suggest you use the time to calm down, distance yourself a little from this mess." she wiggled her fingers vaguely. "Let me and Jupiter do the worrying until you return. And Jupiter, no more comments to Mercury." she added firmly.

Not looking at all happy with the arrangements made so far, Jupiter nodded stiffly.

Wearily, Mina ran a hand over her face. All four were dressed in their usual attire when inside the Lunar Palace and not in their fukus; the pale toga-like tunics of Lunarian cotton and gold sandles. Mina wore a pale yellow, Mercury a very light sky-blue, Mars wore a pale red that somehow managed to not resemble pink while Jupiter wore light green. The Outers had the same uniform for their time within the Palace; Uranus wore a slightly darker blue, Neptune aqua and Pluto grey. Saturn's would probably be lilac.

"Are there any questions?" when no one answered she sighed and nodded to Mercury. When the ice had been removed from their surroundings, Mina left to fetch the princess.

Uncomfortable silence reigned during the interval, in which time Jupiter went to stand by the windows and Mars knelt next to the fireplace. Mercury remained still, not daring to so much as look around her. When Mina returned, with Serenity trying to hide behind her, she decided that she would probably have a headache before the hour was out.

She sat Serenity in a chair and then coughed. All three gave signs of acknowledgement but remained where they were.

"I'm sorry."

Four sets of eyes turned to Serenity.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be, Princess." Jupiter said bluntly, her green eyes sparked angrily. "We have a duty to protect you. We can't do that if you don't trust us. What if you had been attacked on Terra? We wouldn't be able to help you there, because we were still on the Moon."

Serenity didn't cry, to her credit; she sat there and listened, taking the scolding calmly and actually appearing to listen for once.

"We have lost trust in you, Princess." Mars confessed plainly. "We know why you didn't confide in us, but you still should have. By not trusting in us to do our duty as your personal guard, you put yourself, and us, in danger. Do you have any idea what you have put Mercury through with this little adventure of yours?"

Serenity followed Mars' gesturing hand to the window; Lady Mercury stood as rigidly as the ice she embodied and didn't even flinch at her name.

Mina said nothing during this. She had spoken with Serenity as she had brought her here, and had told her to listen because the opinions her guard would put forth now were important.

"She was telling the truth, Princess." Mars finished now, her violet eyes cold yet still managing to hold the volcanic heat of her anger. "That day on Earth, Mercury was right when she said you were acting like a spoilt brat. You thought nothing for us, of what might happen to us. You thought only of yourself. You used Mercury to get your way, and then you had her lie to us. Then you lied to us. And then you lied to your mother, the Queen of us all."

"Running off to explore the capital city is one thing," Jupiter said, anger still evident in her voice, "but rushing off to an unknown world without telling anyone, without escort, is another matter entirely. Not so easy to forgive."

"We can't do our duty if you refuse to trust us." said Mina calmly.

Serenity looked from face to face; Venus' was softest, but she was still angry, Serenity could tell. Finally she turned to look at Mercury again, but the Mercurian refused to turn around, and that hurt. "Mercury?"

When the blue eyes finally met her gaze, Serenity flinched. The gaze was so cold it was like an ice storm was captured in the blue depths.

"I'm sorry." Serenity repeated, softly, a tear slipping down her cheek now. But nothing about that countenance would warm and soften.

"So you have said." Mercury was calm, icily calm. "It doesn't change the fact that you used and lied to me, and to the others, Princess. It is my strongest opinion that you should not be allowed to go back."

A soft gasp escaped the Moon Princess's lips, her crystal blue eyes widening and shimmering now with unshed tears. "But I have to, I promised, you promised." she said desperately to Mina, who looked impassive as marble. "I . . . i-i . . ." a tear escaped its crystal-like prison. "I love him." she whispered.

Mercury snorted in a way that was most unlike her, but Mina was the one that spoke;

"Princess, there is no such thing as love at first sight. There is attraction, a heavy attraction, and whether love grows in that capacity depends on many things." the blue eyes were tinged golden, the Venusian using her natural powers. "I knew when I found you in that maze yesterday that such an attraction was already there. It grows stronger every day. We have accepted, reluctantly, that there is no easy way to keep you from that world and from him. And we are too weary right now to try any of the harder ways."

Jupiter snorted, indicating that she could think of one or two, but she didn't voice them, knowing that it was her anger talking and nothing else.

"So we will let you return, when you accept some conditions. The first is that you never return alone."

Nodding eagerly, Serenity listened to the rest.

"The second is that you treat this seriously. What we are doing is borderline treason, and we have no wish to die just yet. Thirdly, we will approach this like any normal courtship. We will accompany you, as we're sure the prince's four guards do for him." when her princess nodded she continued. "There will always be at least one of us with you on Terra at all times, preferably two, but we won't always be able to manage it. And for now, our last condition is that if we tell you you have to leave, or not return, you will have to do as we say. We will say it for a reason, and depending on the reason the length of time will vary."

The final nod of acceptance was more hesitant, but was still given.

"You plan on going back tonight?" ignoring the jerks of the other three, she focused solely on her princess. When she received the nod she knew was coming, she gave a half-grin, half-grimace. "Mercury leaves for her home-world tonight and myself and Jupiter are both on perimeter patrol."

Mars met those bright blue eyes and felt as though the ground had opened up into a yawning chasm beneath her. She sat stiffly, all too aware of what was coming, and praying to the highest gods she knew that she was wrong.

"Mars will go with you tonight."

Mars all but fell into that chasm with a frustrated growl.

* * *

"What're you playing with this time?"

Zoicite looked back over his shoulder to find three very interested young men standing behind him. Endymion was in his study with his international politics tutor and the Shitennou were left to mill about to their own rhythms.

"I'm not sure," he confessed. Turning back to the device he was working with in his hands. "I found it in my room this morning, on my bedside table." he frowned, unsettled that someone had gotten so close and he hadn't woken up. "I'm not sure what it is or does, but I could swear i've seen something like it before."

Curious, the other three took a look at the device. It was small, able to fit into the palm of Zoicite's hand with ease and space to spare, and coloured a deep bronze colour, accented with blue and green. There was a small row of buttons, but most of them were blank bar one, which was the biggest and had a symbol on it they hadn't seen before of a star-burst superimposed onto a circle. There was a small, rectangular screen in the top-left corner. Turning it over to examine the back revealed a symbol they were all familiar with, for it glowed on Endymion's brow every time he used the Golden Crystal or his powers; a ring with a cross dividing the internal space into quarters. The symbol of their planet.

"Lady Venus held something similar before we fought." Malachite said at length, turning back to look out a window in seeming disinterest.

"She didn't have it when she entered the courtyard." Zoicite countered pointedly. They all knew of what had gone down in the maze's centre courtyard now.

Malachite shrugged. "She moved her hands, a flash of orange, and then I was trying to drive the sword through a metal chain." he didn't need to add how frustrated that had made him; they all knew it. How in the world she had known he was coming at her he would never know. The fact that she had turned and met his blow, and held her ground, irked him to no end. That she had continued to hold her own against him . . .

But one couldn't resist tormenting him anyway. "Bet that was annoying Mal." Jadeite began slyly. "You finally find a girl you're willing to pay attention to and she fights back. Fights as hard as you I might add." he gave a sardonic grin. "A perfect match, in my opinion."

The glare Malachite sent him then only resulted in an infuriating wink as Jadeite went back to his candle flame.

There was a small series of beeps that had them all looking back at Zoicite's startled form at the desk.

"What did you do?" Nephrite.

"I-nothing. I pressed a button and it started beeping."

"Hardly nothing." snorted Jadeite as his candle flame sputtered out with a defiant hiss. "Face it Zoi, you've broken the damn thing and you haven't had it longer than an hour."

"Shut up, Jad." Zoicite snapped back.

"As charming as this scene is, gentlemen, I have to ask why you're calling."

Four heads snapped around at that voice. They hadn't even noticed the beeping stop. The voice was feminine, musical, and oh so very amused.

"By Gaia!" Zoicite nearly dropped the damned thing.

She laughed. "Why, Lord Zoicite, I do believe you're surprised." her smile widened when three more heads crowded into view. "Ah, I see you're all together. Good, that makes things much easier."

"Lady Venus, do you mind explaining what you placed by my brother's bedside last night when you managed to sneak into his room?" Malachite's voice dripped authority and more than a little frustration.

"That's Lady Venus?" Jadeite whistled. "Damn she is-" he cut off abruptly at Malachite's glare.

She giggled. "Why thank you." she winked, then grew sober. "The device is one we senshi use for means of communication, among other uses. I'm not sure what applications yours will have though beside this one." she sent a whithering look off screen and they heard someone speaking. Whatever was said made the blonde roll her eyes. "At least you did that." she grumbled before turning her attention to the men again. "Anyway, we figured that since our respective charges were going to be meeting up, we needed some way to communicate with each other. Hence the device."

Another off-screen voice, this one much clearer, cut in slightly angrily; "We? What's all this _we_ stuff? This is the first _we've_ heard of it!"

"Oh hush up." Venus responded, irritated. "Mercury knew about it and so did I."

"But _we_ didn't." the voice persisted. Another voice murmured an agreement with this unknown woman.

"If you're going to interrupt you can access the wavelength on your own communicator." Venus muttered, annoyed. The silence that greeted her words was stubborn and she smirked. "Point proven. Now then, gentlemen." she turned her attention back to them. "Sorry you've only got one, but we only had a few hours and it would have taken a full day or so for Mercury to make one for each of you."

"No problem, we'll manage." Jadeite elbowed Zoicite gently with a wink and a grin, which the younger returned.

"Good." she watched them appraisingly for a minute before continuing. "To be honest we were just about to call you."

"Enough with the _we_ already!"

"Shut up." the words, though spoken quietly, carried the weight of a strict order. Mina watched whoever had spoken for several minutes before turning her eyes back to the men. "Sorry about that." her voice was back to cheerful again. "Where was I . . . oh yes. Anyway, our Princess has expressed a desire to meet with your prince again tonight, would there be a problem?"

They looked at each other, conferring. Finally Malachite and Nephrite shook their heads.

"I don't believe so, Lady Venus." Malachite answered at last.

"Perfect. Lady Mars will be accompanying her. The rest of us have prior engagements that we can't postpone."

"I never agreed to this in the first place." chimed in a third voice; it wasn't the one that had murmured to Venus before, and sounded more like the one that had agreed with the angry woman. The words were calm, but there was an undercurrent of fire to them. And Jadeite vaguely recognised it.

"You are, you will, and we can't go with you. Now deal with it." suddenly the blue eyes glowed angrily and they guessed that the third member of her group was going to protest again. "Don't make me order it." Venus said through gritted teeth. There was muttering, but there was no contradiction.

"Where will this meeting be held?" the voice said at last. The words sounded as though they'd been forced out.

"The maze." Jadeite answered suddenly. "Her Highness Princess Serenity knows the way. I shall be with Prince Endymion." At Malachite's glance he gave a devil-may-care shrug and a grin; his leader shook his head wearily before nodding to confirm.

"Excellent, they will see you there." Venus seemed, if possible, even more amused. She stole a look off-screen before turning back with a smile. "It is decided then, tonight in the maze. Our Princess looks forward to this meeting."

With a nod of her head the screen blipped to black.

"Think you can manage something?" Malachite asked with a gesture at the device. Zoicite looked at it before grinning.

"I think I can. It might take a while though."

The answer he got was a nod before the platinum-haired general looked at the other member of their team still in the room; Jadeite had left to sit in on Endymion's lesson in hopes of talking to him.

"Nephrite?"

The brunet looked from the sky outside to Malachite briefly before turning his eyes skyward again. "I'm fine."

"But what are you thinking?" Zoicite pressed. "Are you worried about this?"

"In a sense." when that answer failed to clear up the confusion on Zoicite's face, or lower the raised brow on Malachite's, he sighed. "I'm not particularly worried about the meeting, and I have no fear for the princess, our prince, and I believe Lady Mars can handle Jadeite just fine."

"But . . ."

Nephrite quirked a smile at them. "I mentioned once to Jadeite that I believed he would meet his mystery opponent in the flames soon. I was correct. Let's hope he doesn't get burned too badly, shall we?"


	10. Verbal Sparring

**Ok, this took a while to get started, for several various reasons, but i discovered that, once started, this chapter just flowed onto the screen and so here it is, freshly written and begun only this morning. I hope it lives up to expectations. Now i really ought to be getting back to that naru-ficcy that i keep putting off . . .**

**To Hikari Urania, Jenbunny and Isis Aurora Tomoe; i'm glad you liked it, and i do believe you will be feeling sorry for both of them by the end of this, not just poor Jaddy-poo. They have to put up with each other after all lol. ****Also, Ruka-onee, i told you i'd slip her in a few chapters later. **

**And so another chapter rolls out. I know some of you have been waiting for this one eagerly, because we have the oppertunity of seeing sparks fly in several delicious ways all at the same time! So will Nephrite's prediction prove true and poor Jad be singed for his troubles, or will our lovely Raechal come away all a fluster? Only one way you lot are gonna find out that's for sure ;)**

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**Chapter Nine: Verbal Sparring**

Raechal had long since resigned herself to this miserable fate.

Four hours ago, the senshi and their charge had gathered at the teleport to bid Mercury a safe journey back to her home-world and goodbye. Their cerulean-haired comrade was still recovering from everything that had happened recently, so they could forgive her for being a little more icy than usual and a lot more formal.

Three hours ago, Mistress Luna had appeared in their collective common room to request Venus' presence at some meeting between the Moon Queen and a Venusian diplomat. Venus had sent her a wink and a smile that had left Raechal feeling very uneasy and left with the Mauian advisor.

One hour ago, Jupiter had left for the perimeter patrol that she would now be performing alone, at least for the most part since Venus had yet to return from the meeting. The Jovian had clapped a hand on Raechal's shoulder and given her a few words of encouragement, for which Raechal was grateful.

Fifty-five minutes ago, Serenity had announced that she was retiring early to her rooms and did not wish to be disturbed. She had given Raechal a pointed look and the Martian had known that she was really going to start preparing for their journey.

Thirty minutes ago Raechal had retired briefly to her own rooms to seek solace in the fire before leaving on this horrendous mission that she was being forced to complete by her leader and her princess. The result had been less than relaxing; yet again she had found her sacred space within the flames invaded by that blond-haired rogue.

Though there was an upside in that he had seemed to be just as surprised at their meeting as she had been.

Now, thoroughly wishing that she could be anywhere but where she was, Raechal accompanied Serenity through darkened corridors and the palace gardens as they made their way to the courtyard that contained the teleport that Raechal had affectionately nicknamed 'the demonic contraption'.

So much trouble caused by such a simple piece of technology. She had to wonder if the mess of wire and metal had artificial intelligence for all it seemed to have a mind of its own when it came to messing with the girls. Maybe it was actually possessed?

"Hurry up."

Startled from her stubborn thoughts by Serenity's whispered complaint, Raechal obediently stood on the platform, hugging the dark material of her cloak around her form tighter. At Serenity's request she was not transformed, but she was in her palace uniform of pale red caped tunic and sandals. Venus had tried to persuade her to wear a more civilian outfit for some reason that Raechal couldn't quite fathom, and the blue eyes had, at the time, been very amused as well as wary, but the Martian had stubbornly insisted in wearing the uniform that marked her as a member of Serenity's personal guard.

Venus had seemed even more amused then, and her smile had said something along the lines of _don't say I didn't warn you_.

"Could you please at least try to be polite?" Serenity continued as she fiddled at the controls. Raechal rolled her eyes; they'd been having this conversation since they'd left the Princess's rooms. "So far you four don't have a brilliant track record with Endymion and his guards. Mercury turned all ice-princess on them and spoke out of turn, then Venus attacked Malachite . . . although he did attack her first." she paused as she thought that over for a moment, then shrugged a shoulder as she continued looking at the directory. "But still, I would like you all to get along, even for one night!"

"I'll be as polite as is warranted by the circumstances." Mars shrugged herself. "Why don't you teleport down there with your own power?" she added, watching her princess with something akin to curiosity.

Serenity frowned. "Because I don't know exactly where I'm going. Besides, it takes a lot out of me to get back at the end of each visit. I nearly collapsed the first time."

Raechal nodded; it made sense. Serenity didn't usually use her powers, so she wasn't used to the drain in her energy they induced. The senshi had more practice with it, but they had their limits. And it wasn't a good idea to teleport without an exact idea of where you were going anyway.

A small, hushed cry of triumph was the only warning she had when Serenity successfully activated the machine and rushed back onto the platform to stand beside Raechal. Suddenly the Martian found herself staring not at the cool white marble of the Lunar Palace, but at a vast expanse of trees and some crumbling ruins.

"Please tell me that is not where we are going." Raechal said before she could stop herself, disbelief edging her voice as she stared at the ruined castle.

Her charge giggled. "No, it's not. Pretty though, isn't it. Nephrite and Zoicite say it is the old castle, used by the Terran royal family a thousand years ago when their world was still entirely disunited, before the Golden Palace was built. Now Terra is divided into five main kingdoms. The North, South, East and West, and the Central Kingdom. Endymion, as the Crowned Prince, lives in the Central Kingdom, which is where we are now."

Raechal stared after her princess's back. The girl had sounded . . . intelligent. Not that she wasn't; all the senshi knew that she was actually a very bright young woman, but she had a habit of coming across a little childish sometimes and rarely paid attention to lessons.

_'Maybe this world did us some good after all.'_ she thought reluctantly as she followed Serenity through the trees.

"How long have these . . . people, been united under their main monarch?" Raechal asked, hesitating over her wording as her curiosity got the better of her.

"Only a few centuries." pleased at her guard's attempt at interest, and at courtesy, Serenity obliged her as best she could. "About eight hundred years, if I remember what Zoicite told me. There was a couple of centuries of anarchy before the Golden Kingdom and the main ruling family became established." She paused to bend a branch back out of her way. "The four Cardinal Kings came about a little later, as a means to help govern the four quarters more effectively."

"You sound like Mercury." Raechal grumbled quietly.

Pausing again to step around a puddle, Serenity turned to watch her companion thoughtfully. "I suppose Lord Zoicite and Lord Nephrite have done me some good." she said at last. "They have all tried to teach me about Terran culture and a little of their history. It's because of En- _them_, that I've started to pay attention to my own lessons." she admitted.

Raechal's only reply was to raise her eyebrows. So Venus had been correct in her guesses; the bond was too strong to pull them apart. She chose not to comment on her princess's slip of the tongue.

They had come now to the rose wall, as Serenity had dubbed it. Beyond was the maze and, beyond that, the gardens and the Golden Palace. As Serenity led them through the twisting and turning corridors of roses, Raechal had to grudgingly admit that she was impressed. And the scent of the flowers, while not as heady as that of the moon flowers or the flora of Venus, Mars and Jupiter, was heavenly and soothing.

So lost in the scent of the flowers was Raechal that she only just registered that they were approaching the courtyard at the maze's centre.

"Highness, you approached from a different way this time. You usually use the other entrance." the voice was male, definitely, but still somewhat boyish-sounding, the tone cheerful, teasing, and very familiar to the violet-eyed senshi. When Raechal turned her head her eyes locked with a blue-green pair.

_'I knew this was a bad idea the minute Venus decided I would be the one to accompany Serenity.'_ she thought miserably.

"Jadeite, I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks, where have you been hiding ? And why aren't you with Endymion?" Serenity's cheerfulness outweighed any small amount of confusion in her voice as she hugged the blond male in greeting.

"I had to return home, there was some trouble brewing in the East. You were taking so long we thought you had gotten lost, Princess." he teased, then the sparkling oceanic eyes returned to Raechal and the Martian girl stiffened almost unnoticeably. "And who is your lovely companion?"

_'As if you don't already know, my stalker from hell.'_ Raechal thought stubbornly, her eyes smouldering slightly even as the man's expression turned more amused. Oh yes, Raechal recognised him alright. Hopefully she wouldn't reduce him to a pile of ashes by the night's end. It would upset her princess.

"Lord Jadeite, this is Lady Mars, another of my senshi. Venus' second-in-command." Serenity explained, taking Raechal's hand and pulling the reluctant woman forward to stand beside her. "Lady Mars, this is Lord Jadeite, King of the East Quarter, a member of Endymion's Shitennou."

"A pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh, my lord." Raechal couldn't help herself; the sarcasm dripped from her tongue as easily as flame could flow from her fingers. She did not curtsey, merely inclined her head.

He didn't comment on either the lack of respect or her tone. Instead an infuriating little smile lit the corners of his mouth and sparkled in his eyes. "The pleasure is all mine, Lady Mars. I must say you look even more enchanting than I recall, almost like a dream." the smile became a smirk.

Her eyes smouldered. "You don't say."

Meanwhile, Serenity was looking from one to the other in a mixture of satisfaction and confusion. Did they know each other already? Seeing the warning signs of her more fiery guard getting ready to explode – though for the life of her Serenity couldn't work out why – she intervened. "Jadeite, where is Endymion?"

"In the courtyard, Highness."

"I told you not to call me that." Serenity giggled even as she began to walk away.

_'No! Don't leave me alone with him!'_ Raechal thought frantically. But she endeavoured to keep her thoughts off her face. Best not to let him get the upper hand here; he had advantage enough as it was. Instead she made to follow her charge.

Jadeite fell into step beside her.

"So what are your first impressions of Earth, my lady?"

_'Don't look at him.'_ she muttered to herself fiercely even as she pondered. Earth? Of course, Mercury and Venus had already told her of this. She could feel his amused and curious stare while she spoke. "I don't think there is anything special about this planet." she replied dismissively.

"Really?" his tone gave nothing away. "Well, that's a shame, but you've barely seen our world and what it has to offer." they had come to the archway that led into the courtyard now, and he paused just inside of it, blocking her way. His eyes glittered with humour as he bowed slightly and raised her hand to his lips. "I think that if you were to take another look, my lady, then you might find something to keep your interest."

He released her hand, and let her go, walking until he stood against a hedge on the other side of the space. She was frozen in place for a few seconds before her body caught up with her mind and she stood just inside and to the left of the doorway they had come through.

"Mars?"

Startled violet orbs met Serenity's worried crystal eyes, but at the sign that her guard was actually alive and not turned into a piece of statuary the Moon Princess relaxed.

"Lady Mars, this is Prince Endymion, future High King of Terra." she gestured to the tall, dark-haired young man at her side that, until his name was spoken, had been sending a stormy look Jadeite's way. Jadeite had been returning it with a devil-may-care shrug.

"So this is the Lady Mars." Endymion responded, almost as though nothing odd had ever happened between his Shitennou and Serenity's Senshi. "I have heard a lot about you, both from Serenity and from . . . another source." The dark blue eyes flickered to the blond young man and Jadeite shuffled slightly for some reason.

Raechal suspected the movement was from several levels of discomfort even as she took the time now to really look at the Eastern King.

His hair was a blond rivalling Venus' gold, but a shade darker and curling softly on his head and into his eyes, and his eyes, as she had so often seen, were the colour of the oceans. He was dressed in a uniform so light that, if it hadn't been for the pure white cloak swept back over his shoulders, she wouldn't have known it was grey at all. The piping, belt, and jewels that clasped his cloak were all red, the boots a highly polished black leather affair, and his skin vaguely tanned as though he spent a lot of time in the sun, but also spent just as much time indoors away from its rays.

Endymion was only slightly paler, and dressed in black and dark blue with silver and gold decoration. The outfit similar to his guard's but a little different, and slightly more elaborate as befit his higher station.

"And I have heard much of you as well, Your Highness." she replied politely, giving a slight bow. "The pleasure is mine."

Endymion nodded, still smiling. Serenity was positively beaming; this was going better than expected. "Jadeite tells me there was some trouble in the East Quarter, what was it all about?"

The two young royals wandered off, now talking politics, and Raechal had to smile; so _this_ was why Serenity suddenly took interest in her lessons. Despite her stubborn distrust, she was thankful to the young noble for this impact on her wayward mistress. She shook her head at the thought, turned slightly with a small sigh as she shrugged out of her cloak and shook out her hair, then suddenly found herself the centre of Jadeite's attention once again.

"What is it with you girls and short skirts?" he said at her furious, questioning gaze, letting the words fall from his lips in amusement.

His only reward was another smouldering glare. "I am one of my Princess's personal guards. These tunics are easier to move around and fight in than formal gowns and we also have an image to uphold."

"Lady Venus said much the same thing." Jadeite nodded. But he did not remove his gaze. "And your people they . . . aren't scandalised by this?"

Sniffing, she turned away first, much to her own chagrin and his amusement. "I come from a desert world, sir, so clothes this light and movement-friendly are not uncommon. Besides, I don't wear this on my home-world. I have a different wardrobe."

"Ah, so they don't know. I wonder why you hide it."

By the gods that smirk was infuriating. And so was his wit. Just who did he think he was?

All but gritting her teeth, regretting her poor phrasing, she turned her furious gaze back to him and was pleased to see him try to hide a flinch. "They know, sir. And on my world some women wear less. They do not care."

Nodding again, Jadeite briefly turned his attention to the couple now sitting by a fountain. "There are not many places on Earth where a woman can show so much skin without punishment. Is this not so anywhere in your world?"

Biting back a retort, she reflected on his question. On Venus the goal was sometimes to show as much skin as possible. Mercury was often too cold for anything but the heaviest furs and thickest cloths; the gown Lady Mercury wore was only for the other planets and the Moon, not for her home-world. Jupiter . . . she wasn't so sure about that one, but supposed not. Uranus was feminist in the extreme while much of Neptune was under water.

"Perhaps on Saturn or Pluto." she conceded with a sniff. "I haven't been to Pluto myself, but I spend some time on Saturn every year, and I know they prefer their women to cover up more, though not entirely. But to punish a woman for wearing too little even when circumstances require it?" now she was confused as well as horrified.

He shrugged. "Women are the wea-" hastily he corrected himself. "The fairer sex and-"

Unfortunately, the damage was done, and the fire that had only smouldered behind those violet eyes now burned with the intensity of the sun.

"We are not weaker! I bet we senshi could beat at least one of you and your brothers each. Jupiter and Uranus could probably handle two apiece at least. It's barbaric to think that women are not equal just because we seem frailer than you. Strength does not lie in the physical alone, _my lord_." she finished mockingly.

He flushed, "I know that." he snapped.

"You certainly have an odd way of showing that."

"Is there any need for such hostility?" Jadeite said playfully, now trying to diffuse her.

"Perhaps if you did not insult and irritate me I would not be so angry."

Taking a step back before he could stop himself, Jadeite stared at her for a full minute. How had he ever thought this woman to be . . . she was arrogant in the extreme!

Sitting quietly by the fountain, both Serenity and Endymion watched this exchange with mixed feelings.

"I don't get it." Serenity said finally, watching the two bicker. "I mean, I understand why she is angry, but she just . . . exploded."

Chuckling, Endymion watched his friend go from horror to anger to confusion and back again. "Jadeite has a talent for getting under people's skin." he explained to her. "But I admit, I've never seen someone react quite like this before, except maybe Zoicite. But then, those two are always teasing each other, it's their way."

"But still that doesn't account for . . ." she watched as the aura around her senshi steadily became darker. "Oh what have they said _now_?"

"I would ask you to take that back, _sir_."

Jadeite was nonplussed. All he had said was that she looked too pretty to hurt. And he had thought that Earthling women were confusing. They had nothing on this one! _Beryl_ was a sweetheart compared to this one!

"I won't take back the truth." he said calmly.

It wasn't until her entire form began to glow with fire that he realised that he might actually be in trouble.

"Sailor Mars stop this now!"

The flames abruptly died down and she suddenly looked sulky. But still beautiful, he decided, still very beautiful. He looked to where Serenity was now standing, giving off an aura very similar to, but not quite the same as, the one she had held when ordering Lady Mercury to behave so long ago.

"Forgive me, Princess." Mars had fallen into an odd kneel; she knelt now on one leg, her hands folded neatly upon her raised knee and her head bowed. "It will not happen again."

"I wouldn't make that promise, Lady Mars. Jadeite irritates everyone." Endymion said kindly, then his voice turned stern as he looked at the blond. "And you, Jadeite you should know better than to needle a guest. Especially one to be held in such a high regard."

"Forgive me, my Prince." Jadeite bowed slightly from the waist and lowered his head, one arm held at his side while the other hand was fisted over his heart. His liege's words were not lost on him; these senshi were to be held as highly as the Shitennou.

Endymion seemed satisfied with this and began to talk to Serenity once again, showing no unease at leaving the two to their own devices once more. Serenity seemed a little more anxious, but she couldn't ignore his attempts to bring her back into a conversation.

Raechal felt thoroughly abandoned.

_'That's it, when I get back I will lock myself in the main temple and not come out until Venus apologises for this whole fiasco. She knew this would happen. This world is . . . is . . . it's barbaric!'_ she was so busy silently fuming that she didn't realise Jadeite was anywhere near her until she smelt the flower he was holding.

"I said I apologise, for whatever it was I said that you took offence too." he repeated now that he had her attention. The bloom he held out for her to take was full and heavy, a small explosion of dark purple petals on a red-green stem. She saw a small knife in his other hand, and looking at the stem again she realised she could see marks where thorns must have been.

Hesitatingly, she took it. The smell filled her senses and she raised it to her nose without thinking to smell it better. "Thank you." she said quietly, looking back up at him with a small smile.

Jadeite found that he almost couldn't breathe. He gave her a low, courtly bow before looking back up at her through gold locks and lashes. "I was right, you are truly beautiful when you smile."

Blushing, she looked away and muttered something unintelligible, remembering that dance at her Princess's birthday celebration clearly. It was a reaction that instantly endeared her to him and he found himself wondering how to create that adorable reaction again.

Serenity had watched this display with girlish delight. "That was so sweet of him."

"It was, wasn't it." Endymion shook his head, struggling not to smirk. "He means well, and when he wants to be he can be quite the charmer."

She looked at him and smiled, and Endymion shared in Jadeite's awe, though they had felt this to different women. He opened his mouth to say something else, something to make her smile more, when he heard movement in the corridors of the maze near to them.

"Endymion? Your Highness?"

"Oh great, it's the parasite."

"Hush up, Jad." Endymion gave him a stern look and Jadeite shrugged, unapologetic, before whispering quickly to Lady Mars, who looked a little unwell now that Endymion thought about it. He wondered why.

"You'll have to go," he said to Serenity quietly. He heard that damned woman call his name again and resisted banging his head against the marble of the fountain. "If Beryl finds you here . . ."

"Why would it be a problem?" Serenity's eyes were innocent, trusting, but also confused. He considered his words before speaking again.

"Beryl, she . . . I guess she means well but . . . she's not always a very nice person, and she definitely won't react well to you being here, with me."

Serenity's eyes widened with understanding, but something slightly darker flashed through them before she nodded and rose as Lady Mars and Jadeite approached. Lady Mars handed one of the dark cloaks to Serenity before wrapping the other around her own figure.

"Jadeite will guide you through the maze to the opening in the hedge." Endymion rose as well, nodding to Jadeite, who nodded back, before inclining his head to Lady Mars. "It has been an honour to meet you, my lady."

Lady Mars paused in arranging the folds of her cloak long enough to quickly dip into that kneeling bow to him briefly before rising again and fiddling with a fastening pin. If Serenity's expression of surprise was anything to go by, he had been given a great respect in this action, and judging by the widening of the violet eyes Lady Mars had done so without thought.

But there wasn't time to think about the implications of this, so he bowed low to Serenity and kissed her hand and, when she smiled and nodded at him, Jadeite led them both out of the area, leaving Endymion to steel himself against the what was to come. He turned from watching Serenity's long pale hair float past the edge of the archway in time to see Beryl enter with another young woman. Endymion resisted a frown when he realised who the lady Beryl's company actually was and hoped the two girls would get away safely.

"Lady Beryl. Rhea, i didn't think you'd be back for another week." he inclined his head to both and, judging by the look in the other's eyes, prepared for an interrogation.

They navigated the maze in silence, Jadeite leading the way so as to make sure their way was clear. When they came to the hedge and the gap in the roses, he bowed low to them both. "It has been fun and a pleasure, my ladies. We look forward to your next visit."

Serenity giggled and embraced him, telling him to look after himself and his brothers. Raechal was relieved that the ill feeling that had washed over her when she had heard that woman's voice was now gone.

"Lady Mars?"

She turned back to see that Serenity had already gone through the gap and Jadeite was watching her quietly.

"Thank you for seeing us out safely, my lord." she inclined her head to him once more.

"Jadeite, please. No need to be so formal." he smiled. "You should be able to safely transport yourselves back from here. Now I must return to rescue Endymion form the harpy err . . . I mean the lovely Lady Beryl."

"You don't think highly of her?" Raechal kept her tone dismissively casual. But when he made a sound to emphasise his obvious opinion she couldn't help a laugh. "Then I will let you get back to rescue his Highness." she turned to go.

"Firefly," his tone was back to amused and that irritating smirk was back in place when she turned to look at him, mouth already open to demand he not call her that. He chuckled at the fire in her eyes and winked before sauntering off. "Don't look so down Firefly, the time will fly by between now and our next meeting."

As she built up steam to start yelling at him Serenity, giggling, grabbed her arm and pulled her through the hedge. As the Princess disappeared in silver dust, Raechal faded into smoke and flames, beginning her rant the moment they arrived within the maze of the palace gardens.

Raechal's ranting lasted even after she had dutifully dropped off her charge outside of the door to her chambers, stalking back down the steps to retire to her own suite for the night. She passed an amused Venus and a surprised Jupiter along the way as they returned from their patrol, but paid no attention to them in her fuming even as she slammed her door behind her.

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**A quick note here, that is in part a disclaimer:**

_**The Lady Rhea, charming girl that she is and will prove to be, is not my property. She belongs solely to Haruka Tenou Distant Sky King and i am simply borrowing her, with permission, for the plot.**_


	11. Solstice Eve, part one

**Sorry this has taken so long to get out guys, writer's block is a pain in the behind ^.^ My thanks to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, faved, or just plain read this thing so far. As i've said before, i've tried to keep them all the same characters we know and love - albeit after giving the Shitennou most of us know a bit of a makeover from evil to in my opinion just plain lovable - but because they'll have grown up in different circumstances in their past lives (and of course they're also a bit older) there are some differences to all of them. The exception to this rule, of course, is Pluto, who never re-incarnated.**

**This was written with Valentine's Day vaguely in mind so think of this and the next as a belated present? And any who have read my one-shot _"Silver Slippers & Rose Red Hearts"_ would be correct in thinking there are similarities with this chapter and the one to follow. ****Anyway, with luck the next will be out quicker. ****Enjoy, Eb x**

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**Chapter Ten: Solstice Eve (part 1)**

Endymion let out a long, weary sigh the minute he entered his personal study and flopped into the chair behind the desk with less than regal decorum. He ran one hand over his face, as though he could wipe away the reason for his apparent fatigue, and then proceeded to fold both arms onto the desk and let his head drop onto the nest they made there.

Various chuckles and snickers ran around the semi-gloom of the room.

Finally Nephrite decided to break the silence with his deep tones. "Difficult evening, Endymion?"

The dignified response was a groan.

"It must be very hard to sit through dinner with one's family." said Zoicite's light tenor, the smirk barely disguised in his voice. More snickers from the corner; Jadeite.

"You don't know Rhea, she makes any interaction difficult." Endymion whined, shooting a baleful glare at the young scientist perusing idly along his bookshelves. If Zoicite found a book there that he hadn't yet read Endymion would be very surprised.

"She's your sister, Endymion." Malachite's voice always seemed louder than what it was, due to the fact that it would resonate clearly through any room. It made finding the man at balls and parties easy for the other four. Sometimes it still surprised them that when he had to he could whisper so quietly that even the recipient of his words could barely hear him. "She cannot be that bad."

"Oh, no, she's not that bad." Endymion said almost cheerfully. "She's worse."

"You know she's just jealous." Jadeite piped up. His voice, though a tenor like Zoicite's, was the deeper of the two. He always seemed to be laughing, smiling, smirking, or a combination of all three.

Endymion sighed again. It was true, and his darling older sister made no secret of the fact. She was first born, she was the tactical genius – Endymion had Zoicite for that, not that he was stupid either – and so she believed that the old law that stated that it should be the first born male that ruled was a tradition not worth upholding. It frustrated her that her baby brother was the future ruler.

Never mind how many times Endymion had told her that if she wanted the title so badly she could have it, or that he hadn't asked for it in the first place, or that technically the old law hadn't been invoked when the title of Crown Prince was handed to the younger sibling; it had been a priest assuring his father that it was the better decision.

Peace would not be easily obtained or maintained under Rhea's rule, the priest had warned. In fact, the kingdom could very well fall to shadows if she were to hold the crown. The priest had been trusted implicitly, for the line and temple he came from were closely tied with the High Kings and were known to only interfere where it was necessary, and so their father had chosen his son as successor.

It hadn't helped when, upon being taken to the temple to be formally recognised as the Crown Prince, the Golden Crystal had chosen Endymion to be its keeper, its first keeper for over fifty years, signalling also that four new Shitennou had been chosen. That had been the final straw for young Rhea, who believed her whole planet was against her. The rift between the siblings could not be healed after that, and Rhea was often kept away at an overseas school to keep the tension to a minimum whenever and wherever possible.

"Father brought up marriage again." Endymion admitted at last, staring stubbornly at a paperweight. Four sympathetic glances were sent his way.

"You are at that age, Endy." Zoicite said calmly, the topic being one they had gone over many times already. "Your parents won't be here forever and they wish to see their kingdom secure before they pass the throne to you."

"He wants me to marry Beryl." Endymion muttered darkly.

Four looks were exchanged, each wondering who would reply to this topic. It was a rather touchy subject with the Prince. Even before Princess Serenity made her appearance in their liege's life, Endymion had said again and again, often very vehemently, that there was no way he would take Beryl for a wife. Now that Serenity was a part of his life . . .

"Is there nothing that could dissuade your parents from the match?" Zoicite said at length.

The reply was a short, bitter laugh. "My father is all but tying me to the alter for her. She comes from an old family, has wealth and status, has an impeccable background and a brilliant education, is a good politician with an understanding of our kingdom and is lovely to behold."

The other four waited for the next comment that was inevitable.

"I can't stand the sight of her."

Jadeite snickered again.

"You haven't heard who they're trying to match Rhea with now." Endymion added, and his tone was now suspiciously cheerful. Perhaps, Nephrite reflected, because misery loves company.

But their interest was piqued nonetheless. "Who?"

Smirking, Endymion turned to look at Malachite. "How would you like to join my family as my brother-in-law, Mal?"

The stoic Southern Shitennou's demeanour became, if possible, even colder. When Jadeite burst out laughing and Zoicite joined in with a barely restrained chuckle, he shot them the hardest glare they had seen of him yet.

"This is not funny, this is a disaster."

Jadeite tried to placate him, though the effect was spoiled somewhat by his laughter. "Of course it is Mal, they wish to marry you to a wo. . . to a woman who thinks that me-" another bout of laughter. "thinks that men are less than t-the dirt beneath her shoes!" Jadeite slid off his chair and onto the floor, unable to restrain himself any longer.

"I thought she wasn't that bad, Mal." Endymion added innocently, his smirk belying his words. The reply was another filthy look.

"On another note," Zoicite interrupted, a smile still playing with his lips and his eyes, "the Solstice Ball is in two days. Which of us shall be accompanying Endymion and which of us won't?"

Jadeite's laughter faded into a slightly more serious expression. "I need to return to the East Quarter. There are still some issues I need to clear up and I only returned to gather some resources." and, he finished in his mind, meeting the lovely and fiery Lady Mars had been an intriguing and welcome bonus to his brief respite.

"I have some intelligence to go over and several meetings to attend." Zoicite looked a little irritated by this though he spoke calmly. "I'm afraid i'll be unavailable for several days."

"Guess that leaves you two." Endymion turned to his remaining brothers. "Unless the pair of you also have other plans. Beating the hell out of soldiers, washing your hair . . ." he gave a mischievous smirk to the two of them.

Used to these teasing remarks by now, Malachite and Nephrite ignored the jab at the length of their hair. They looked at each other, seeming to check with each other without words.

"My schedule is clear for the Solstice." Nephrite said at last, smirking. "I'm sure the stars won't miss me too much for a few hours."

_**"****We won't."**_

Their quick response made him blink. They had sounded almost hasty, and he had to wonder why. Usually they didn't bother responding to his conversations with others unless to give a warning of some kind.

"I am also free to attend." Malachite confirmed.

_**"Moonlight must come to Elysia."**_

_'Aren't they chatty all of a sudden.'_ Nephrite mused, half wary and half amused at the antics of his most ancient allies. Rarely had they been so insistent; they had been pestering him for days now to keep that one night, at least, clear of any activities and if he were honest it was driving him mad. He wasn't used to having the stars and the sun in Earth's sky pushing and speaking to him almost non-stop.

"If I may make a suggestion, Endymion?"

The dark-haired prince looked at his soothsayer in mild surprise. "Go ahead, you know I always welcome your advice, and, of course, the advice of your friends." he added with a smile.

Several stars in Nephrite's mind, and out in the night sky, glowed a little brighter with the praise.

"Your parents and your sister will be attending the Solstice Ball as well. Maybe the Princess would like to come? It would give her a chance to see a little of our culture, and your parents a chance to meet her. They don't have to know who she is straight away."

Endymion thought it over even as Malachite nodded in approval with Zoicite.

"It's true, Endy. If they get to know her as their view of a person before finding out that she is a child of the moon, then it will be harder to dismiss her out of prejudice later. The idea has merit." the green-eyed young man said diplomatically.

"His mother knows all the nobility of Earth though." Jadeite countered, playing devil's advocate. "How would we get them in?"

"It would be easy enough for me to acquire a set of invitations for the princess and her entourage." Zoicite returned almost without pause. "Let me know the number in her party and i'll make the necessary arrangements."

"But what would be their story?" Malachite interrupted suddenly, catching on to his brother's train of thought. "We have to be careful and it has to be believable."

"_**The Priest."**_

Nephrite wasn't aware that he'd repeated the words aloud until the others looked at him curiously. "Would Helios be willing to help?"

"Maybe." Endymion considered the idea. Helios had met Serenity once, during one of her first visits when the Senshi did not accompany her. He was the Priest of Elysia, keeper and guardian of dreams and the current lord of the fae realms. It had been Helios who had persuaded the king that Endymion was the better candidate for the throne, and Helios who had given the prince the Golden Crystal a few years later. He appeared to be a young man of ageless quality – a common trait among the fae – appearing in somewhere around his late teens to early twenties, but in fact was perhaps a century or more in mortal terms.

Helios had not reacted negatively to the Moon Princess. In fact, Helios had welcomed her into the Elysian Temple by her full and formal title, startling the poor thing until he assured her that she was most welcome there, even if only for the distant relation their two races held.

Stranger still, he had not been at all surprised to see her.

"I'll contact him tonight. It couldn't hurt to ask." the prince concluded. The other four men smiled.

"Then let's contact Venus." Jadeite decided with a grin.

* * *

Venus and Jupiter were in the gardens with Serenity when Mars came storming out of the palace with something firmly bundled up in one of her short summer cloaks. They watched with mild surprise as she suddenly stopped and her mouth dropped open, eyes wide, then after glancing around warily reached within the scrunched up bundle to pull something near her mouth, hissed into it rather vehemently, apparently, and continued on her angry march to where the three young women were relaxing.

Casually, Jupiter returned to tending the flowering bush she had been previously occupied with and Venus returned to her animated conversation with Serenity about this or that nobleman.

All that changed when a crimson and gold communicator was thrust furiously under Venus' nose.

"Somebody would like a word with you, Commander." the Martian bit out, violet eyes glowering and daring the blonde to contradict her. Daring her, in fact, to say anything at all. The blonde in question grimaced; none of them ever called her Commander unless it was a formal circumstance. Or, like Mars was right now, they happened to be severely annoyed.

Venus and Serenity shared a glance before the princess began eyeing the communicator gingerly. Even Jupiter glanced at it curiously, and all three could hear muffled laughter and scolding issuing from the device.

With a gentle smile and completely ignoring the stormy attitude of her second in command, Venus accepted it with a nod. "Thank you, Mars. I'm sure Jupiter is getting bored with her flowers by now, perhaps you should entertain her for a while."

The subtle order was accepted with a curt nod and a vicious glare directed at the communicator. Jupiter placed her pruning sheers at the base of the plant and beckoned her fiery-tempered comrade to follow her to a bit of lawn some distance away to spar.

Winking when Serenity directed her curious gaze at her, Venus removed her hand from the device's speaker. "What in all the worlds did you do to her this time Lord Jadeite?"

"I swear on my honour and hers that I am innocent of most charges, Lady Venus. All I did was make one or two small comments on the situation. But it would be wise not to let her anywhere near Zoicite for the time being." more laughter, muffled and barely restrained, if at all. "He may have called at an inappropriate time."

Venus, guessing exactly the kind of inappropriate situation that had happened, couldn't resist a grin of her own. "And you often call upon young women when they are bathing or dressing, my lords?"

Serenity nearly choked on her own air and raised her sleeve to stifle her own laughter.

"_I_ don't." Jadeite smirked. "Though poor Zoi isn't handling things too well. Poor kid's traumatised. Or in heaven, not sure which." there was some mild shouting in the background that was in a higher than normal pitch for a certain pony-tailed Shitennou and Jadeite's green-blue eyes looked that way. "Sorry, my mistake, perverts don't go to heaven." his grin grew wider when whoever the comment was directed at – Zoicite most likely – snarled something unintelligible. "In other news, the Summer Solstice here on Earth is in two days. We would like to extend an invitation for the Ball to the Princess Serenity."

Venus looked at Serenity expectantly, though she didn't need to see her charge's starry-eyed and pleading gaze to know the answer. "Of course. She accepts your invitation with thanks."

"Thought so. So how many of her personal guard will be attending this time?"

Again, Venus looked at Serenity. Her princess immediately pointed to the flower, which in some small way resembled a Terran rose. Nodding a confirmation and pointing to herself, the blonde returned her blue-eyed gaze to the small screen. "Lady Mercury left for her home-world last week and Lady Mars is scheduled to return in two days. Myself and Lady Jupiter will be attending."

"Noted." the voice was Zoicite's. "What names shall I put on the invitations?"

Thoughtfully, Venus watched the forms of her two sister-senshi sparring on the grass.

"Lady Serena, Lady Rosalita and Lady Amorina." she decided at last, using her own real personal name; everyone, including herself, just preferred Mina. Venus preferred it, Serenity knew, because she was an informal creature at heart and had always liked the shorter name better.

"Noted." Zoicite repeated, then Jadeite came back.

"Ok, now that the plan is in motion, here are the details. You three will be Ladies of the fae realms, friends of the Elysian High Priest Helios. He will be your guide from the forest to the party and your liaison and your alibi. Endymion's mother doesn't know most of the fae nobility so you should be safe with this story. Besides," he added with a wink and a shameless grin, "you're all beautiful enough to pass for faerie."

Serenity flushed a slight pink and Venus smiled warmly, though not only for her own compliment; Jupiter was often overlooked among the Inner Court of Serenity.

"As you wish, my lord."

Jadeite hung up.

Venus and Serenity shared a quiet laugh before returning to watching the other two spar.

"When will we inform Jupiter of this decision?" Serenity asked impishly as Mars threw a vicious tongue of flame at the auburn-haired amazoness.

"On the day."

* * *

"You want me to _what_?"

From her seat on a marble bench in the centre of the moonflower maze, Mars smirked at the irate Jovian staring at Venus with open mouth and eyes that didn't know whether to look horrified, angry, shocked or all of the above.

To Venus' credit, she didn't flinch and she resisted a smile of her own. "You shall be escorting the princess to the Solstice Ball with me."

"When?"

Venus looked at the grass beneath her sandals and shuffled then looked back up at her defence officer. "Today."

"Wha . . . wha . . ." Jupiter looked ready to faint.

Standing nearby Serenity moved in preparation; Jupiter wasn't known to faint but anything was possible where the Jovian was involved. "Please Jupiter, you're the only one who hasn't been there yet. You'll love it I promise you will and it'll be so much fun and . . . and you're an amazing dancer and the Shitennou are sweethearts and, and so is Endymion."

Jupiter was giving her a look that plainly said _yeah right pull the other one._ "So you want me to play princess with them?"

"Well," Serenity fidgeted, "You are a princess, Jupiter." her crystal blue eyes looked sad as she watched the emerald orbs in her guard's face. "You _are_ a princess, Jupiter. And a woman. Please don't forget that."

The storm slowly cleared from the green, green eyes and left a strange look in its wake, but the blue eyes never wavered.

Finally Jupiter sighed and her posture relaxed, though there was a defeated stoop to her shoulders. "Of course, Princess Serenity." she gave a sweeping bow and when she looked up again at her princess there was a tired smile playing with the eyes and rosebud lips.

"I was expecting you to put up more of a fight." Mars noted, a slight frown marring her face. She turned her violet gaze to Venus, who made a grimacing sort of gesture.

"There's more to this mission, Jupiter."

The tall young woman turned curious eyes to her leader expectantly. When Venus hesitated the curiousness was replaced with suspicion. "Define _more_, Venus." she replied warily. Jupiter took a step back without even realising.

Serenity sent a reprimanding glare towards Mars when the dark-haired woman chuckled even as the moon princess reached out to her guardswoman. "Please, Jupiter, you did promise."

"Before finding out all the details again." interrupted Mars. When Serenity and Venus both gave her a look she shrugged. "I had to suffer."

"Suffer?"

Venus turned back to the wary Jovian. "You have to go as a noblewoman, not as a soldier."

The storm in those green eyes returned with a vengeance, but all Serenity did was giggle.

"Come on! We have to get you ready! We've only got a few hours."

"Oh no you- hey!" Jupiter had no choice, she realised as her princess grabbed her arm in both her small hands and began to pull her away. Venus and Mars followed after with a chuckle.

By the time they reached Jupiter's suite Serenity had already seated the Jovian on the chair at her vanity and was rifling through her wardrobe. Jupiter glanced at them as they waked in and mouthed a silent plea for help. Venus sat herself on a sofa and smiled. Mars knelt by the fire and smirked to herself.

"You have so many pretty dresses, Jupiter! Why don't you ever wear any of them?" Serenity exclaimed, holding out a light pink chiffon affair that floated as it moved.

Squirming, Jupiter played with one of the errant locks that fell over her shoulders no matter what she did to them. "I . . . i'm not comfortable in the kind of situation that would require such clothing, Serenity."

"There's no reason to be uncomfortable." Serenity told her firmly. "Just because you enjoy learning how to defend yourself, it doesn't make you any less of a woman. You've got more skill than anybody I know at Court!"

"If I may make a suggestion, Serenity?" Venus interrupted, coming to stand behind Jupiter. She untied the teal ribbon that held up the long auburn hair and let it fall around her comrade's shoulders. "Perhaps we should keep it simple, for both myself and Jupiter. After all we are there to escort you. I suggest our formal gowns."

Jupiter gave her a grateful smile as Venus lifted several thick locks and weighed them in her hands. "Mars, come with me and help me carry some things. We'll be right back. Serenity, if you could run a brush through her hair please until we get back?"

The Venusian and the Martian swept out of the room. Jupiter looked back at her reflection; without the slim ribbon to hold back her hair the auburn curls spilled down over her shoulders and down her back, softening her appearance.

Picking up a brush from the table Serenity began to run it smoothly over the red-brown strands. "You'll be fine, Jupiter." she coaxed. "You're not normally like this when the staff help you get ready. Why are you so nervous now?"

"Honestly?" Jupiter blew a bang out of her eye. "I have no idea."

_**(several hours later)**_

"You see? I told you you'd love it." Serenity beamed as the glow of the pad died down and Jupiter stared about them in wonder at a land that reminded her of the forests of her home-world.

All three were dressed in their traditional and formal royal gowns that only saw the light of day during special celebrations.

Serenity lived up to the whispers of her beauty at Court. Her gown was the colour of pale moonbeams, threaded with silver with studded pearls lining her high waist. The skirts floated softly about her legs. Trimming the top edge of the gown was a line of golden crescent moons, the tips pointing towards her face. The back was low and a bow of palest pink translucent cotton rested at the back of her waist. The skirts were really of two layers, the topmost being gauzier than the second which swept the floor. The two sets of three pearls were back in her hair. To cover her moon mark on her brow she wore a simple golden circlet with an oval mother of pearl centrepiece.

Venus was completely dressed in varying shades of gold. The bodice was of a modest cut, with a squarish neckline, and the skirts fell closely from her hips, following the contours of her body; both were the same shade of orange-gold. Over the top of the skirt flowing from the waist was a second layer of shimmering golden yellow gauze, wrapped around to meet at the middle and then parting to reveal the skirts beneath. Around her wrist was her amber studded bracelet, around her throat were her amber necklace and the golden-orange ribbon, in her ears a pair of dark amber heart-shaped studs. Her hair was, as usual, pulled into a half-up half-down kind of style and held by a wider frilled ribbon that matched the other in colour. It was decorated with a single scarlet flower similar to a rose.

Jupiter was dressed all in green. The bodice of her gown was tight and heart-shaped, low cut, and form-fitting. The skirts were gathered in at her waist by a flower-shaped bunch of material at either side, then allowed to flow freely from her hips, sweeping just a centimetre or so off the floor. This top layer was a forest green, and the skirt was slit from her left hip down to reveal a second layer beneath the darker silk. This second layer was of pale jade satin, so light it almost looked like ivory, and was slit on her left from mid-thigh to reveal her long legs. On her feet were a pair of strapped sandals, the ribbons that tied them to her feet and legs twining around her legs until just below the knee. Her auburn hair was in a customary ponytail and held up with green satin ribbon, decorated with a pink flower like Venus'. In her ears were earrings made to resemble pink roses, and she wore her emerald pendant, bracelet and green ribbon.

Neither Venus nor Jupiter had to worry about hiding their own planetary insignias as they only showed up while their powers were in use.

"Welcome, Celestial Princesses, to Terra and to Elysia."

The two senshi turned sharply to see the owner of the soft-spoken voice. The young man had hair as white as Serenity's, tinged with blue and piercing yellow eyes, and wore pure white robes, trousers and boots, all decorated in some way with teal or dark blue. But perhaps the most unusual thing about him was the pearly golden horn that rose from the soft waves of hair on his head.

Next to him, smiling at them just as serenely, was a young woman their own age, dressed in pale pinks and ivory, with hair the exact colour of cherry blossoms and ruby eyes. But perhaps the most alarming thing for the girls was her hairstyle; except for the colour and the fact that the buns were pointed like rabbit-ears, it was exacty the same as Serenity's!

"Princesses, welcome," he repeated, bowing from the waist with a gentle smile. "For the benefit of those who do not yet know my name, I am Helios, Keeper of the Dream World and a Lord of the Fae realms, High Priest of Elysian and an advisor to the Terran royalty. The young lady beside me is Lady Usagi." seeing their shocked looks, he hastened to add, "We thought it would add to your cover if she wore the same stye as yourself, Princess. I assure you no harm is intended."

The red-eyed young woman curtsied low to them. "The pleasure is mine."

Serenity, having already met the dream keeper, was first to recover, returning the curtsy. "Not at all. And it is good to see you again, Helios. I hope you have been well. These are two of my senshi, Lady Rosalita of Jupiter," still stunned, Jupiter managed a bow of her own before realising that it might not be appropriate here; Helios smiled at her in a gesture of encouragement. "And Lady Amorina of Venus." Venus curtsied gracefully.

"Kin-sei and Moku-sei." Lady Usagi said aloud before she could stop herself. She raised a delicate hand to her mouth as Helios sighed wearily beside her. "Forgive me, i-"

"Not at all, my Lady." Venus replied with a wink. "You've just helped us out immensely. After all what good are disguises if we give our true origins?"

Smiling, Helios held an arm to the blossom-haired lady. "Then shall we proceed?"

He led them back into the misted landscape that, until know, hadn't been behind him. "We shall approach the palace from my realm. It is a usual method for me and, as my guests, it would be an appropriate method for all of you as well." The three guests never once saw how their guides' eyes met in sheer relief.

* * *

Startled, Sailor Pluto jerked back from gazing into the past through her Garnet Orb.

Pink hair, red eyes . . .

"Small Lady?" she had to smile; the cheek of the young future princess, using her real name like that. Of course there was no true danger then; Serenity went by a different name and the only thing that would draw attention would be how similar she and the White Moon Princess were.

Small Lady had been that far into the past? Why didn't she realise this sooner? How could she not have known? Why had she even paid a visit to the Silver Millennium in the first place?

Realising that these were questions that, undoubtedly, she would have the answers to sooner or later, she contented herself with checking on the passage of the souls sent forth through time by the queen. It was only now that she noticed something . . . unusual.

There were _four extra souls_ sent forth.

Blinking a little at this new information, she shook herself. It would all explain itself in time, and right now she was barely even halfway through the story. Settling upon the top of the Chronos Gateway, she peered through the orb again, hoping to see the rest.


	12. Solstice Eve, part two

**Hi folks, i'm back again. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, i had hoped to get it done by Midsummer, but alas, t'was not to be. I really am sorry though; i'll try to get on top of this again. On the plus side, both this story and my Naruto fic _Intertwined_ are now updated ^.^ and i might be getting a job soon! Hooray!**

**I know a lot of people were thinking of an uber romantic scene with this chapter, and i'm not sure i've delivered that, in fact i don't what this is, but hopefully it's not too disappointing for you all and is somewhat bearable and not total rubbish. Thank you to Haruka Tenou Distant Sky King for putting up with me and my panicking a couple of months ago ALL DAY, her loan of Rhea to me for the story, and for helping me with her appearence and personality; i hope i've delivered. Thanks to all of you who left me reviews; you all make this so worth it and make sure i write more, because i hate to disappoint, and to those of you who have read but not reviewed; you still make this worth it. And also to Luke, for putting up with my hair-tearing episodes.**

**Merry Lammas, good luck with the Olympics (GO TEAM GB! KICK YOUR ARSES INTO GEAR ALREADY!) and hope you have a great summer.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Solstice Eve (part 2)**

"What if something went wrong?"

"It won't."

"What if they were caught or couldn't get here?"

"Endy, trust us, they'll be here."

"But what if-"

"Will you relax already?" Zoicite's reprimand got Endymion's attention and the prince looked at him with startled eyes.

As it had turned out, one of Zoicite's appointments had changed the venue to a secluded balcony overlooking the ball. While he wouldn't be a part of Endymion's entourage specifically he would be in the area, for a while at least. It was more than could be said for Jadeite, who had been sulking good naturedly as he and his retinue departed the Golden Palace that morning.

"I've just thought," Malachite said suddenly, eyes wide in an incredibly rare display of confusion, "Every time she has been here before it's been in daylight, but on her world it was always night. Doesn't that mean that they'll be coming here in the middle of the day?"

"Try not to confuse me before I leave for this meeting." Zoicite groaned, but he thought about it all the same. "It's a valid point. Maybe we should have mentioned this to Venus before this party started."

"There will be no problem."

All eyes turned to Nephrite as he calmly intoned those words, all the while staring up at the clear night sky. His eyes were misted over slightly, blurring the already vague colour of his eyes. This wasn't quite the Nephrite they saw and joked with every day. This was the mystic king of the Western Quarter as he listened to the stars above.

"Helios received them on the boarder of Elysia. They will arrive with the priest and his own guest shortly." Nephrite shook himself off and bestowed a smile on his brothers. "We should get out there already, else they'll arrive before we do."

The other two nodded and, wishing Zoicite luck with his appointment, headed back onto the dance floor.

Almost instantly, much to his despair, Endymion's hand was captured by Rhea's in a firm grip. His older sister allowed him to lead the dance purely for appearances, but they both knew she would much prefer to lead.

"You've been irritable all day, little brother." as usual there was no true warmth in her tones when she spoke to him, eyes glittering in amusement. "Why fret so? It is only ball."

The two siblings were as different as land and sky. Endymion was dark of hair and blue of eye, as many a courtly lady would dream of for hours. If Endymion was the sky, then Rhea was surely the land, with long hair a deep and dusky red, like heart's blood, with coppery tones and eyes that were considered hazel, but shifted in hue between ocean green and midnight blue, light-dependent. She was tall and lithe, fast and with a deceptive amount of strength, as well he knew from their younger years.

Her eyes had always unsettled Endymion. Perhaps it was because she rarely looked at him with anything but contempt or loathing, or maybe because they shifted colour and hue in such a cat-like way much like the woman herself, but they had always unsettled him.

"Or maybe," her amusement grew, but also tinged with something else he couldn't decipher, her eyes settling for a greener shade of hazel than usual, "You are nervous about _someone_, rather than something."

This was another unsettling aspect of Rhea's; her ability to see clear through him whenever she chose, like that day in the rose maze. Like now.

"I believe I should meet this person." her words made the blood pound in his ears at the mere thought. "After all it is my duty as the older sibling." a cat-like smile formed on her lips.

Distraction. That was what he needed; to distract her somehow. "Where is Peridot?"

She blinked, the sudden change of topic bringing a bemused expression to her face. "Why on Earth would you want to know where my guard is?"

"I just felt it a shame that not all of them could come to the celebration tonight." he shrugged a fraction, acting as casual as he could without giving the game away. "You said last night at dinner that Aventurine and Coral were both attending to personal matters, but you made no mention of Peridot."

Rhea gave him a grudging, calculating look. "Peridot is here, or will be. I believe she was sending a courier to her mother in Lemuria."

The dance finished and Endymion gave her a courtly bow as she offered a barely existent curtsy. His hand automatically went to the next woman awaiting a turn; Beryl, coincidentally enough, and he was familiar enough with the routine that he could allow his mind to wander, only giving her token responses to her chatter. He knew he hadn't managed to distract Rhea fully, more divert her for the time being. He would have to warn Serenity and her two senshi when they arrived.

Thoughts of the two senshi coming with her, one he knew and the other a newcomer to their midst, turned to the three guards assigned to Rhea. Peridot, a distant cousin of Jadite's from somewhere back in history, was the daughter of the current ruling Countess of Lemuria, a land between both Asia and Australia. Coral was a lower-class girl from Atlantis, a large island kingdom between and a little south of the Americas and Europe. Aventurine was the Baroness of Thule, a northerly state slightly north of Russia that, despite it's Arctic Circle location, had a rather temperate climate.

All three of these lands, unbeknownst to anybody at the time, were to be wiped out, relegated to the realms of myth and legend for thousands of years to come.

Both siblings turned to face the stairs at what would prove to be both exactly the right and the wrong time, just as a good portion of the chatter died away and quiet and whispered conversations took its place. Helios was standing at the top of the staircase that swept down onto the ballroom floor and waving a hand dismissively at the herald; clearly abusing his power and allowing himself and the girls with him the luxury of an anonymous entrance.

The idea of such an entrance made both Rhea and Endymion feel somewhat envious to a small degree, as neither was particularly fond of everyone knowing exactly when, where and how they entered a room all the time.

However, when Helios finally turned away again, having completed his self-appointed mission, it was with a girl on each arm and with two more walking sedately behind them as though this was nothing more than a stroll through some particularly lovely garden.

Endymion felt as though he had just been sucker-punched as the air caught in his lungs. Although he was completely unfamiliar with the familiar-looking young lady in pink on Helios' left, the vision in gossamer white to the priest's right could only be one woman. The blonde behind Serenity, dressed in golden tones, had to be Venus, which meant that the one to Venus' left and gliding behind the unknown woman must be Lady Jupiter.

He felt a smirk form as he took in her apparent height and not displeasing appearance; immediately a scheme, or at least an idea, sprang to mind. Nephrite had mentioned that the stars had been both pushy and chatty of late as well was secretive. Now Endymion suspected the reason why. This should be interesting indeed.

Rhea's thoughts were far less romantic in their course, though no less astounded. She had despised the Elysian High Priest for many years, and would continue to do so for many more if she had her way, and so the open scowl she wore at the sight of him would surprise no-one. But almost instantly that scowl was replaced by a look of surprise so profound that her cunning mind stuttered to a halt for several precious minutes.

Her first thoughts were that these women were Fae, one and all, and certainly they looked and acted the part from what she could see as they reached the bottom and became obscured by the crowds. Each lovely in their own way, with a quality that made it difficult to take one's eyes away from them. These thoughts were soon wept away by other realisations. They had come with Helios, that much was painfully obvious, and the silver-haired sylph on the priest's right arm was clearly under his protection; Rhea had to wonder why it was needed. Then she took a second look at the two walking behind the three and realised, with some small amount of surprise, that they were not merely courtly women. They were guards; they reminded her of Peridot, Coral and Aventurine in the way they moved, and a part of her was convinced, and rightly so, that the two women were there to keep the sylph safe. Stealing a glance at Endymion revealed another fact about these women; her brother was certainly expecting them. In fact he had yet to breathe if the colour he was turning was any indication.

She felt a smug satisfaction at that; the kingdom's most sought after bachelor had finally been caught. The fact that his choice appeared to be someone other than their parents' choice was also a bonus for her, in more ways than one. Her eyes, now decidedly less green-looking than before, flickered to Endymion's other side to see how the woman in question was faring.

Not well, apparently. Beryl did not enjoy being ignored at the best of times, and it was no secret that she had designs on the heir to the throne. The red-head had gone from scowling at Endymion to glaring heatedly at the silvery maiden that was getting nearer. Rhea felt a pang somewhere inside at the fact, despite knowing that if many of the Court thought she desired more of the Lady than a close friendship then they would see fit to separate the two women entirely, even if same-sex relationships were not against the law in the Golden Kingdom. No sooner ahd the thought entered her head, she shook herself off; regrets were pointless, only action had any true value.

A woman dressed in a bright jewel-green with dark blonde hair appeared at the top of the stairs next, her eyes sweeping across the crowd below as the herald announced her as "Lieutenant Peridot of Lemuria", though her gaze lingered on the group that had preceded her. Rhea raised a hand to beckon the lone woman, and she was proven right when the green-clad female's eyes instantly locked onto her.

Purposefully, Rhea began to stride through the crowded ballroom, heading for a space that was just off to the side of the staircase even as the blonde began her own walk down the stairs. Let Endymion have a few minutes of peace, she decided with a smirk; it was time to gather some useful information. Perhaps Peridot knew who the strangers were.

Meanwhile, Rosalita was scowling quietly to herself as she half-listened to what Serenity and Helios were talking about. She was certain that Venus couldn't have missed one crucial element; the mere fact that they could more or less easily understand the tongue spoken around them meant that somewhere on this planet there was a senshi, but Serenity had never mentioned one and the only references they had ever found to a Terran senshi had been in a history text stating that Sailor Terra had died a thousand years ago and since then, as far as any of them could tell, there had never been a successor chosen for the role. It was odd.

A delicate breeze entered the crowded room, bringing with it a soft, heady scent and the whispers of trees. Her head immediately turned in that direction; if there were flowers here then she wanted to be there. She would feel more secure being near one of her sources of power than here in the noisy, smelly, crowded, hot ballroom where she felt anything but secure. Her nose wrinkled slightly as they passed yet another woman – or a man, she couldn't tell without looking – who wore too much scent.

Not even her own favourite lily of the valley perfume could offer much comfort right now. In fact she could barely detect it under all these other scents.

She was distracted from her musings by Serenity when the slighter girl turned to fix both her attendants with a bright smile, crystalline eyes mischievous as ever. "Now remember, you two are not only here as my senshi, you are also here to have fun, so I expect to see you on the dance floor at least once tonight." this last seemed more aimed at the taller of the two. "I'll introduce you to Endymion and then you can do as you please. I don't expect or want either of you to hang around me the entire night. Contrary to what you and the others believe I do not require babysitting. May I also remind you that while here you will refer to each other and myself by _name_." this time there was a stern note to the princess's voice.

Behind Serenity, Helios and Usagi were both wearing amused expressions, with a dash of fondness thrown in.

Rosalita wasn't the only one frowning now.

"But-"

"No buts, Amorina, unless you want us to be caught." ah, the highest of threats, their golden commander failing in her duty. Perish the thought. "I expect the two of you to be on your best behaviour."

Feeling very much like a child being scolded by her mother, Rosalita offered a vague shrug, still scowling. From what she could see from the corner of her eye Venus was pouting herself.

"My Lady."

The tone was smooth, masculine. Both senshi turned immediately to face it even as Serenity turned a faint pink at being caught unawares, and Rosalita got her first impressions of the Terran prince.

She had been told plenty by the others already, even by Mars, who had been 'reluctantly' paying more attention to a blond idiot than anything else at the time. A part of her mind registered that Serenity was correct in saying that he was very handsome and that words didn't necessarily do him justice. But what really unsettled her was the sight of the man behind him; the prince was taller than herself by a good few inches, which was unnerving enough, but the white-haired young man with sun-darkened skin standing to attention behind him was even taller!

Along with first impressions, she also got her first taste of feeling small. Not even the Outers made her feel this way, despite the fact that both Pluto and Uranus were taller than her as well.

Venus' face, she noticed after a quick glance thrown her leader's way, had taken on a rather unusual expression.

"I had feared you wouldn't come tonight." the prince continued. Both senshi finally left their stupor behind at the obvious line, Venus shaking her head and smirking while Rosalita rolled her eyes, keeping her arms firmly crossed over her breast.

This only succeeded in bringing Endymion's attention, and the attention of the giant behind him, to them. "Ah, your lovely companions." the grin was genuine, Rosalita noted with surprise. "Lady Amorina, it is always a pleasure." he gave Venus a gentlemanly bow, which the blonde returned with a curtsy.

"The pleasure is mine as always, your highness." her Venusian accent had never been more audible, the other two women noticed. It made every word sound like a sonnet.

"You know Malachite already," Endymion continued, a hand gesturing at the white-haired general. Malachite swept icy eyes over both before giving the two senshi a regal-looking bow. "And for the Lady who has yet to meet him, he is my leading general, and commander of my army."

"I can gather." Rosalita spoke before she could hold back the words. Endymion's lips twitched as he fought a smirk of his own, Serenity hiding her giggle behind her hand. Even Venus was trying to control her expression, but the amused light in her blue eyes betrayed her.

To his credit, Malachite didn't so much as bat an eyelid. "It is nice to finally meet the last member of Lady Serena's retinue. You are an . . . interesting group of girls." he inclined his head slightly. "She has told us much of you."

"Should I be worried?" the question was aimed primarily at Venus, but the others found it equally as amusing even if her princess looked mortified at the conversation flowing back and forth.

"And so this must be the Lady Rosalita."

Rosalita tensed. She hadn't sensed anybody come up behind her beyond the milling crowds, and she inwardly cursed herself for letting her guard down already. The new voice was a pleasing baritone, chocolate-rich and velvet-rough all at once, and she turned warily to look at him only for her eyes to meet with a broad chest. This was definitely a new experience for the tall young woman. Green eyes travelled upwards and locked with a pair of eyes of uncertain colour that were no less rich and deep as the voice they belonged to.

The only consolation that Rosalita could see was that he seemed as startled by her as she was by him, though she had no idea as to why it would be so.

"Lady Amorina, Lady Rosalita, this is Nephrite, the second-in-command of my Shitennou." Endymion's tone was amused as he watched Nephrite's hazel eyes widen slightly.

"My pleasure." Nephrite intoned slowly, forming a careful bow to them both. The blonde, Amorina or Venus, returned his gesture with a curtsy and a smile. The green-clad one, Rosalita or Jupiter he gathered, returned it also, not with a curtsy but instead with a hand over her heart as she offered a bow. A delighted smile lit up hazel eyes; interesting.

"Serena, if we may?" Endymion offered his arm to the ethereal maiden before him and together they turned to Helios and his own companion to begin a conversation, effectively throwing the two senshi into the deep end.

"How do you think they'll cope?" he stage-whispered to Serenity.

Helios offered his friend a grin as Usagi chuckled and replied herself. "Oh I believe they'll manage just fine, your highness."

"Who? The boys or the girls?" Endymion followed the Lady Jupiter with his eyes as she and Venus both walked off towards the terrace and the outside when a sparkle caught his eye and he happened to glance down at one of the tall woman's legs. _'Sweet Mother Earth.'_ he didn't need Nephrite's stars to tell him that his soothsayer was in trouble with that one.

Serenity wore an unreadable look. "It's a part of her formal dress." she explained calmly, correctly interpreting his surprise and what had caused it. "I know I described her before as a warrior, but she is also a woman." she added, raising an eyebrow and daring him to contradict her.

Thankfully the prince realised the thin ice on which he stood and gave her an easy smile. "I would never have said anything to the contrary." He flashed Helios an irritated scowl at the delighted, smug smirk that lit up the Fae's face.

Meanwhile, the two women in question were both seeking some kind of refuge from the monstrosity that this night was turning out to be. For Rosalita, at least, this meant being near some form of substantial plant life, which was why she was making a beeline for the gardens without realising it, letting her powers lead the way for her. For Venus, it was following where the Jovian led, as she was likely to go somewhere the blonde could snag a brief respite before heading back into the fray.

Unfortunately, they both seemed to have acquired shadows.

"Running away?" the deep voice was amused, and both women turned irritably to face the two Shitennou.

"Senshi do not _run away_." Rosalita all but sneered at the tall man. "You would be wise to allow us time to regroup."

Both men raised eyebrows at the phrasing, recognising the language she spoke. This one was a soldier, born and bred. Ignoring the warning looks Venus was flashing at them, Malachite carried on. "A good soldier shouldn't need time to regroup."

"And stupid ones jump in head first without thinking." the green-clad fury quipped back, eyeing him testily. "Did no one ever tell you, Lord Malachite? Hell hath no fury like a woman."

Nephrite couldn't restrain his chuckle at that one, but he hastily turned it into a cough when all eyes turned to him. "Scorned."

"What?" no _pardon_, no _come again_. Certainly this one was no proper little wallflower; she was a regular spitfire.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." he intoned in a sombre voice, his eyes betraying the amusement he felt. But his confidence flickered when she gave him a once-over with those fierce green eyes.

_'If the stars had bodies i'd have killed them twice over by now.'_ he thought to himself wryly. Oh they'd known about this for months; teasing him with glimpses of a lithe figure in his dreams, flashes of bright fiery emeralds in visions. It explained their chuckles and their whispers,the secretive air about their messages. They had known exactly what was in his future, and had made sure he was in his future's path before he even knew what had hit him.

He had been intrigued by this creature when he had seen her, the ribbon about her throat trailing down her back and the emerald silk flowing over her form like water. That she had curves had been obvious, and while she hadn't looked like his usual type he had felt an immediate pull towards her despite the blonde bombshell standing next to her. But then she had turned around to look at him, and he had seen those eyes that burned like the most beautiful emerald stars reflected from his dreams by reality, and had felt their fire like a hot punch.

Nephrite suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for Jadeite.

"**The Goddess of Forests and Storms is as her nature. Tread carefully, soothsayer."**

Great, just what he needed. Relationship advice from the unfortunately _disembodied_ voices.

But they had a point, he reflected. Serenity had explained the Inner Senshi in detail to Endymion and his men, and each reflected their personal element. Mercury held sway over ice, and her demeanour was cool while her mind as bright and reflective. Venus reigned over love, beauty and metal, and not only did she embody the first two literally but she was also as sharp and quick and hard as a blade. Mars played with fire, and she was a passionate creature in every sense of the word with a temper to rival the sun! Jupiter embodied nature and the storm, and her own nature was flexible, quick, as violent as it could be gentle.

For the stars to term her a Goddess meant that she had command of their respect. The thought made him smile, that they believed this creature was for him was unbelievable and yet . . . and yet there was something there he couldn't define as yet.

"Who are you talking to?"

Her words doused his thoughts with icy dread and he swallowed. "What do you mean?"

Those emerald eyes were inquisitive, bright. Even curious. "You look as though you speak to someone we cannot hear."

It wasn't a lie that she had spoken, since Malachite hadn't given an indication it was and he was a living lie detector, but Nephrite had the feeling that it was not the whole truth. How much to give her in return?

"Mars speaks with the flames, you look the way she does." she continued when he didn't respond, ignoring the amused look Venus was giving her.

Aha! Safe ground. Sort of. "I am a soothsayer to Prince Endymion." he admitted, inclining his head to her.

Her eyes flashed, first in amusement, then in irritation. "And that is not an answer." she turned on her heel and spun in a whirl of green silks. Venus followed her after bestowing a smile on the two men, but not before Nephrite's eye had been drawn by a jewel-like sparkle at Rosalita's leg when the emerald material parted.

_'Sweet Mother Earth!'_ He hastily wiped a hand across his mouth and eyes. A _garter_ . . . "I think we're out of our depth here Mal." he muttered, watching through the one eye not covered by his hand as the two fae-like women wandered through into Endymion's rose garden.

Malachite made no reply, leaning back against the marble of the staircase that led down into the gardens. When he finally did form a response, he spoke calmly. "We cannot give up so soon. Endymion needs us to get along with these women, as does the Princess."

Easier said than done. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that you were staring at the blonde's backside, right Mal?" when Malachite gave him a look Nephrite scowled right on back. "Don't give me that look. You're intrigued if not attracted."

The tall silver-haired man inclined his head. "Touché." he rubbed an absent circle on his temple; a headache this early in the proceedings did not bode well. "We need a plan."

"Let them have a minute or two. You heard Serenity giving them orders that even we might find difficult to swallow as clearly as I did. When they come back they'll be in a better mood."

Malachite's lip quirked. "Your stars tell you this?"

The response was a snort. "They're hardly mine," drawled the brunet, "And no, fact of women. Let them cool off and get used to things. They'll be back soon enough."

"Intriguing, however, that she knew you were speaking with them before I did."

Nephrite cast him a look; this was more than a casual comment, and he had to wonder why. "I guess." It was also a valid point; Serenity had said that the senshi weren't altogether that close, so how _was_ the Lady Jupiter so familiar with what it looked like to be listening to someone who wasn't there?

"**Forests always whisper, if one would listen to them. Storms always speak, but few ever hear the truth of their calls."**

More vague half-truths from the ever-helpful voices, and yet . . .

"There is more to that woman than meets most eyes, methinks." Nephrite murmured thoughtfully.

"**Danger to the Prince. A heart filling with darkness draws near and blinds another from its true path."**

He blinked, wondering if that was a real-time quote or a prediction. Possibly a bit of both. "Let's go find Endymion." he was already turning to go inside, "We can come back out here later."

It was just as well that they did, for they returned to find a disaster waiting to strike.

Beryl was trying to coax a conversation out of Endymion and find out more concerning Serenity, and the waif-like Moon Princess was looking less waif-like and more severe with each passing second. She was like Mal, Nephrite realised suddenly; her colouring, like the Southern general's own hair and eyes, was pale, and had the potential to be austere if it weren't for the warmth in her eyes. Once again he noted that Princess Serenity could be downright scary.

"But surely my lord will not deny a dance from an old friend?"

Endymion's face was starting to look an interesting shade of red. "You will have to excuse me, good Lady. I have my own personal guests to attend to. It is their first time in my kingdom and I wish to make their introduction as smooth as possible."

Ouch; refusing to say the woman's name already? Couldn't be good.

"Yes, I heard." Beryl's face took on a carefully blank, pinched look. "Where are you visiting from again? I didn't quite catch it." she turned the question to Serenity, and those crystal blue eyes darkened considerably as they regarded the red-headed woman standing before her.

"That would be because I never said." Serenity returned politely, but something underlined the tones of forced civility. "I come from a land deep within the Fae realms, called Lunaria. My companions come from principalities within that land; Kin-sei and Moku-sei."

"I don't believe I have heard of such a place." Beryl was smiling like a cat that had caught the canary. Clearly she thought she had caught the ethereal woman out.

Serenity sniffed. "No, I don't suppose you would have." she said it with a cold, tight-lipped smile. Everyone else had to fight to stop the smirks appearing on their faces. Serenity's eyes glittered sapphire, jewel-hard and jewel-bright. Usagi hid a giggle behind her hand.

A dark, ugly expression flashed across Beryl's face at the insinuation.

_'Jadeite is going to be so irritated that he wasn't here to see this.'_ Nephrite thought to himself. He shared a glance with Malachite that proved the silver-haired man to be thinking along the same lines, and a note of amusement thrummed across their shared bond with Zoicite; apparently the younger man could see at least some of this cat-fight.

"Is there a problem, Serena?"

The scent of a storm-washed forest followed the voice, clear to Nephrite's nose even among the milling perfumes of the ballroom, and he turned slightly with everyone else to see the two women newly joining the conversation. Venus had positioned herself beside Serenity with a calming hand on the shorter girl's arm. Jupiter was standing between her princess and the offending woman, but was a little aside from the two. Neither appeared to particularly like Beryl. While they clearly looked like guards, as was obvious from their stances and positions, something about them rang of high nobility. In fact they held themselves in a way similar to Malachite, Endymion, Rhea and Serenity.

Beryl, caught off guard, took an involuntary step back.

"No, Rosalita, everything is just fine." she inclined her head to Beryl coolly, that tight little smile not wavering once. "Good eve, Lady Beryl." a startled look flashed across the pale face of the woman in question, and the two Shitennou gathered that her name hadn't been mentioned. They shared a look as the three women left for the terrace. Endymion, Helios and the Lady Usagi following. The two men could do nothing but leave as well.

"Princess that was risky." Venus hissed the moment they were out of earshot of any of the other guests. "You need to stay in control and stop flaunting it."

"I couldn't help it." Serenity's voice was now back to normal, and she looked a little worried herself. "Something just snapped and . . ."

"All the same Princess, you need to keep it under control. If it gets out of hand . . ." Jupiter allowed her voice to trail off significantly.

Serenity looked at each woman. "I know, you are both right." Her blue eyes caught sight of their audience and she smiled at them. "Forgive me, Endymion, I didn't mean to cause a scandal."

What interested the three Terran men was how the two senshi jerked as though they had been hit, then melted back into their previous state of relaxed tension within the same moment. Venus offered them a bright smile while Jupiter merely looked curious.

The leaves of the bush nearest her seemed to rustle and her eyes flashed in movement, but too quickly for him to know where she had looked; he only knew that she had. The words spoken by the stars earlier came back to him, along with the memory of himself meditating in a forest glade. The trees had whispered then, but he couldn't understand them and had put it down to a breeze. Could it be that _she_ could understand them?

A smile quirked her lips, unbidden. The sight of it brought one to his own.

Endymion laughed. "The only one you must beg forgiveness from is Jadeite, Serenity, and that would be because he wasn't here to see it. Sometimes Lady Beryl gets ahead of herself. She needs to be reminded of her place every now and then."

Venus did not look too happy at the mention of the noblewoman, her eyes glowing their strange golden colour as she watched the numerous light ribbons.

Absently she twitched and tugged at one or two of the connecting ribbons, pulling the particular relationships back into order again, or nudging some along. One of them spooked her, however, though she wasn't entirely sure as to the why. It looked out of place among the multi-coloured aura surrounding the palace; one end burned the dusky purple-red of desire and yearning, while the other end was deep green, bordering on black. The sight made her shudder involuntarily. She could only describe it as a void of emotion, and knew without a doubt that the person on the coloured end was being used in a most horrible way, but she had no way of knowing who the line was attached to; it was so knotted up and tangled amongst the others.

"Amorina?"

At the sound of Serenity's concerned voice she snapped back to attention, the golden glow of her eyes dying with her powers. "Princess?" everyone else was watching her too; she felt varying degrees of concern aimed towards herself.

"Is everything alright?" Endymion was the one to ask her, and this surprised her in some small way.

She managed a somewhat small and reassuring smile, though to her it felt more like a grimace. "I am not sure, I admit, but for now, it seems to be."

Endymion gave her a once over and she fought not to fidget as three men watched her for any such sign. Finally he seemed to have reached some conclusion or other, for he gave her a small smile and instead of questioning her further he turned his attention to Serenity. "I have yet to have the pleasure of a dance, my Lady." he explained with a roguish smile and a courtly bow.

She giggled, and took his hand, but not before giving a pointed look to her two companions. Both girls barely stifled a groan as they followed their princess and her prince inside, the Shitennou walking behind them.

Nephrite watched both of them out the corner of his eye, trusting Malachite to keep track of their wayward prince. Both visiting women were watching the dancers keenly, studying the moves, and he noted surprise in their eyes which was explained when he caught a stray murmur from Jupiter.

"It's like a Plutonian waltz."

"Would you like to dance?" he asked impulsively, not entirely sure why or how the words had left his own mouth.

Clearly she had thought he was joking, for as she turned there was a cool and somewhat irritated spark in her eyes that stuttered out when she saw he was giving her a short bow, extending a hand for her to take. She gave a wary glance to the dancers, then to him.

"You would want to?" while he didn't look ungainly, he didn't seem the type to her. When she received a roguish smile as the answer her heart skipped a beat against her will.

"I would be the envy of all the men in the room if you would deign to honour me with but one dance."

She tilted her head to the side as she considered him, and a curled lock of her hair slid off her shoulder at the gesture. He followed it with his eyes briefly before returning his gaze to meet her own. When she spoke again it was careful. "Pretty words mean little in my world."

Another smile. "But I only speak the truth."

Her hand rose with a wary poise, pausing before coming to rest upon his own lightly, like a leaf that had fallen from a tree. Nephrite straightened again with a broad smile as he led her forward, placing a hand at the small of her back as he guided her to the floor. Soon they were swept into the dance, and several couples stopped to watch the pair glide around the room as though on air.

Still on the sidelines, Venus' eyes glowed golden once more, watching as a thread of pale red ribbon, a mere echo of what it could become, slowly faded into being. Very interesting.

The sickly-looking ribbon from before caught her eye again, and she traced it to a corner of the room near the stairs. Her eye was distracted from trying to locate the other end when she realised exactly what it was tangled up with; a second ribbon was knotted up with the first, hopelessly tangled, choked by the sickly green, but burning fiercely and defiantly silver against the darker colour.

Venus attempted to tug it free a little, to no avail; the knot only tightened. She couldn't give it the time and strict attention it would require to untangle it here in the ballroom, but she was determined to get a closer look at the person it belonged to; such loyalty and devotion as to produce this colour of light deserved help, and perhaps if she knew who it belonged to she could give them a little nudge, and perhaps then they could untangle it on their own.

Big blue eyes locked on her target, she blinked innocently and demurely. "Won't you ask me to dance?" she asked sweetly.

Malachite's ice-coloured eyes turned to her with a flicker of surprise and, dare she say it, fear.

"You can dance, can you not?"

His head moved as though to nod slowly, but he stilled the movement before it could really happen. "I have a duty to perform and cannot take part in such a frivolous pastime. I am not merely here to have fun."

A part of her heart withdrew with a stinging ache, but she refused to be beaten. Her eyes flickered to look behind him before returning to his own, and her smile grew even sweeter. "If you worry because you cannot dance, don't worry. I'll teach you. But I thought you might wish to escape as that man over there is heading your way and I think he wants something of you." she giggled, the sound like a wind chime. "Somehow i'm not so sure you'd like it, whatever it is he wants."

He turned to see where she indicated, against his better judgement, and saw his king headed his way with a determined look in his eyes. Malachite knew she was right; he didn't like what he knew the king wished to discuss with him. Any other man might have blanched at the very least, many would have bolted then and there. Instead Malachite turned to her with a grim but amused light in his eyes and extended a hand. "Come and dance with me."

"You don't have to sound so enthralled by the idea." she drawled sarcastically, her accent adding a dusky, honeyed lilt to her words. But when she looked closer and saw the panic she smiled at him. "Oh very well, since you asked so nicely." and she placed her hand in his.

He glanced back as they whirled away to see the king watching him with a mixture of irritation and amusement. Mentally he sighed; he'd avoided the situation for now, but it was only temporary. He'd get cornered later for sure.

"I'm surprised. You're very light on your feet, General Malachite."

He looked down to the golden nymph. "Why should it surprise you?"

"I had thought you didn't know how to dance after all." was the laughing reply.

"It was a part of my upbringing." he informed her casually, without thought. No sooner had the words been spoken did he realise, startled, that she was unnervingly easy to talk to.

"I knew it." she flashed that kilowatt smile he had seen before, just as she was leaving when they had first met. "You are no mere soldier. You're nobility." she looked around them, as though looking at the people she found thee and comparing them to him. "You carry yourself like a prince, you act like Mercury and you know court etiquette." she chanced a glance at the king, who was still watching them. The elder man inclined his head when she caught his eye and she inclined hers in return with a smile. "You have a noble spirit, General."

The corner of his lips twitched into a smirk that was almost a smile. "You have an unfair advantage, my Lady."

"Call me Amorina, remember?" her smile dimmed until it was softer, but infinitely amused. "And I would know this even without my powers. It is written all over your being, in the way you move and act."

She was vaguely aware of Serenity and Endymion dancing past them, of the two sharing grins, but thought nothing of it. Her eyes had been caught by that brilliant silvery ribbon once more. It had jumped out at her, without use of her gifts, as though demanding her attention. A trace of gold entered her gaze as she followed it to its source, eyes alighting upon a young woman with hair of deep gold dressed in a silken gown the colour of peridot gems. Beside her was a tall young woman with long hair the colour of late autumn in a lovely gown of darker green over lime.

Mina's eyes glittered in triumph as she looked away.

**o.O.o**

Rhea strode through the milling crowds with purpose in each step, a frown on her face as she mulled over her conversation with Peridot and the information she had been given. Or rather, the lack thereof. She could feel Peridot's eyes on her as she walked away, and the weight of that gaze made her ache. Peridot always looked so sad whenever she looked at her, especially lately. Rhea wondered why, but then sometimes she just couldn't care.

The strangers were unknown, but the pink-haired woman had been seen with Helios on several occasions, and the two seemed to be close. Helios had also seemed fond of the other women as they had entered, particularly the silver-haired one.

Her eyes lifted of their own accord in time to see her brother waltz by with the woman in question and her frown became more puzzled. Something about her was familiar, like a deeply buried memory that just wouldn't, or couldn't, surface.

She caught sight of Beryl standing on the opposite side of the dance floor, glaring at the woman in Endymion's arms. Her heart went out to Beryl; unrequited love wasn't easy to deal with at the best of times. The sight of her own love-interest staring after her brother made her shake off this melancholy mood, and she watched and waited.

When Endymion and his lady-love were near her again, and Endymion twirled her out, Rhea simply caught her other hand and pulled the girl into a dance.

Up close she realised that those blue eyes were truly stunning, and the girl's hair wasn't just a pale blonde as she had previously thought, but honestly silver.

"Forgive my intrusion, my Lady, but I believe I have not yet had the pleasure of knowing your name." the smile she offered was, much to her own shock, surprisingly genuine, which was unusual in itself.

"Serena. And your own?" the smaller woman replied with a sweet if somewhat wary smile of her own. Rhea actually didn't blame her for that, after all she had just stolen her from Endymion.

"Rhea, I am Endymion's elder sister." speaking of her brother . . . ah, there he was. Beryl had caught him again, and he didn't look happy; he kept casting scowls at Rhea. "I believe I may have irritated him by stealing you." she added with a triumphant smirk.

The girl giggled. "You're his sister, it's your job, is it not?" When Rhea gave her a nod and another smirk she continued. "While I find this attention flattering, i'm not entirely sure as to why you're dancing with me."

Twirling 'Serena' out and back again, Rhea's smirk grew. "You arrived with the Elysian priest, nobody knows who you are, yet your appearance alone would mean any who met you would remember your face." Rhea twirled her again. "And if that wasn't enough reason, you appear to have bewitched my brother."

Something flashed through those blue eyes then; Rhea thought it was fear. "I have bewitched no one." much of the sparkle had left her eyes now, replaced with something that was altogether foreign to the princess of Earth. Something that raised the hairs all over the red-head's body.

Instead of the original retort that rested on the tip of her tongue, she replied with a sombre tone that still managed to sound amused. "No, I suppose not." The girl's reaction, Rhea decided, would be filed away and thought about later. "How is it you are so familiar with the Elysian priest?"

"Helios?" the wide blue eyes grew bigger, more innocent as she pondered the question. "We are friends, and distant cousins." a fact that Serenity herself had helped Mercury research and proved as fact when the princess's curiosity had gotten the better of her. Few on the moon knew of their relation with the Fae of Terra, and her history tutor had applauded her when she had questioned him, but cautioned her not to mention it if possible. "When I received an invitation to this event and discovered he was attending the same ball, we decided to come together."

Rhea nodded and made a non-committal hum in the back of her throat. Strangely enough, her first instinct when looking at this girl and her two guards wasn't the usual suspicion, though that was certainly a close second. A very close second, hot on the heels of the first and almost obscuring the surprising trust that she seemed to want to place in the silver-haired sylph. She felt respect for Serena's two guards, which was insane because she had never met them before. Those facts alone made her wary.

"That woman has darkness in her heart."

The softly spoken words made her pause in mid-step and their dance faltered for a second as Rhea's eyes sought out who the girl was talking about. Not wondering about the odd change in the quality of the gentle voice, her hazel eyes alighted on Beryl, who was scowling at something Endymion had said.

"Lady Beryl?" Rhea turned her own eyes back to her stolen partner. "She is a very intense person, often misunderstood."

If Serena had detected the exact emotion in Rhea's voice, then the shorter girl didn't show it. Instead she continued to give her the same assessing, calculating look that had been present on her face since Rhea began to reply. That this sweet angel's expression could be so unreadable was unnerving; what had been open and honest before was closed off completely, better than even Rhea herself could manage. Where lights had sparkled in the twin pools of bright blue now shadows lingered, and yet the eyes glowed brighter than before, if that were possible. The whole effect was unsettling, and the hairs on Rhea's neck and arms rose again. The red-head had the distinct impression that she was in the presence of something infinitely dangerous, barely held in check. Strands of hair on both women began to lift with the building static.

At the periphery of Rhea's vision, Serena's two guards, and both her brother's present Shitennou, cast the slight girl wary, tense looks.

"Perhaps." came that same quiet, soft tone. Some of the darkness left the blue eyes then, and her expression softened somewhat, though it remained obscure. A hint of a smile touched Serena's lips as the song finished and the dance ended. The static died with it. "Please, Lady Rhea, stay safe. I wish no harm towards you." she curtsied deeply, then rose back to standing. "Merry Litha, and blessed be your lives."

Rhea was left standing alone, staring as she walked away.

"Highness!"

Automatically, Rhea turned to face the blonde approaching her other side. Peridot was casting glances between Rhea and 'Serena' as she approached. "Princess, is everything alright? There was a strange energy in the room."

Rhea turned from Peridot's worried green eyes to gaze in the direction the silver-haired girl had gone. "I'm not sure." she murmured wryly. "Everything seems ok now, but . . ." she never got to finish her sentence, though she would later repeat the unusual conversation to her three guards, line for line.

The wall separating the room from the terrace and the gardens imploded.

Instantly screams rent the air, mingling with unearthly howls. A hulking black mass skulked through the smoking hole, separated into two shadowy forms that remained as such even in the light. One opened what Rhea thought was a mouth and purple lightning spewed forth into the panicking crowds. The other swiped monstrous shadowed claws, and she saw several people either drop dead where they had stood or go flying across the room. All the while a buzzing had filled her ears, and she felt something well up inside her, something warm and fierce yet cool and sure, begging to be released. But it reached a point, an almost unbearable level, and could go no further, trapped within her body.

Peridot had by now joined the Shitennou, trying to get everyone to safety at the same time as defending themselves and the people around them from the creatures.

Endymion grabbed Rhea's arm as he ran past and she ran with him, not thinking when she helped him usher people up the stairs and to safety.

More guards entered the room to aid their prince and princess and the three elite guards.

Zoicite jumped down from a balcony to join his brothers and their sister on the floor.

Two bright glows sprang to life out in the darkness of the garden, dying down again almost immediately. Two faint cries floated on the air.

Two bright, glowing, magick attacks hit the backs of those monsters, knocking them over the Shitennou and Peridot and into the far wall. The one that had spewed purple energy crackled with green lightning, momentarily stunned into inactivity, while the other was bound with a glowing golden chain, roaring its anger at being caught unawares. Two more attacks followed from out in the darkness; more of the emerald lightning struck the first creature, and it shrank as it howled, and bright golden light hit the other squarely in what was presumably its chest, and it roared as it too grew smaller and their forms grew more easily defined.

The golden chain broke, but neither monster moved from where they lay, though both roared in displeasure.

Rhea could sense two powerful energies out there in the darkness, one a fierce but gentle pulse of warmth, the other as wild as nature at her most feared. Suddenly these two beings, along with a third that had been trying to shield itself from notice, disappeared, leaving her with the impression of lights shooting up into the sky.

Peridot, Malachite, Nephrite and Zoicite closed in on the injured enemies and she focused then on the events going on in front of her, leaving Rhea to wonder later at the mysterious energies.

* * *

**And so the evil forces at work behind the scenes finally begin to appear. Hope you enjoyed!**

**A.N; _Litha_ is an old name for Midsummer, or the Summer Solstice, the day of the year that is longest and the night is at its shortest. It signals the coming of winter as ours days grow shorter and that the closing chapters of life are on their way, a reminder that nothing can last forever. It is a celebration of life. The exact date varies from year to year, though many take the standard date to be June 21st.**


	13. The Other Side of the Fence

**Happy New Year to all of you! I hope it's going good so far for everyone. I've had a little disagreement with the spell-checker on this site; it wants to replace most of the words i've used with simpler ones, so if you spot a mistake i've missed in my annoyance with this infuriating program please let me know and i'll edit accordingly (this little section here doesn't count by the way).**

**One thing i want to bring to your attention is an RP site i belong to, called _A Knight's Work Is Never Done_. We've had a "reboot" recently because many of our members have left and the story was going nowhere fast, and are desperately seeking new members for all kinds of roles; heroes, senshi, villains and civilians alike. Let me know if you're interested in a review/pm and i'll reply with a list of the available cast and the website's address, along with a basic summary of the story we're following at the moment. **

**I promise to try to update more frequently this year, but no promises; these first few months at least will be a bit hectic. With that said, let's get on with the show.**

**Eb x**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The Other Side of the Fence**

"And you two told _me_ not to flaunt it." Serenity raised one slim eyebrow at her two guards. They were all currently in the shared common room, and this was the first time they had spoken since leaving Terra.

Jupiter lay on her back on the floor, one hand to her left hip and a pained grimace on her face; the clawed creature had grazed her side when it had first appeared and thus had sent her flying. She had walked gingerly back to the senshi wing with her princess giving her a concerned glance now and then. The total sum of her injuries included bruising, a sprained ankle and wrist, a gash on her waist and hip from the claws, numerous cuts and scratches, and a tender back where she had hit a tree.

Venus sat on the edge of an armchair, her left wrist cradled in her lap. She had also had to walk carefully back to this room, but she hadn't walked completely straight. On top of the many similar cuts, bruises and scratches littering her pale skin, there was also a shiny burn that they all hoped would disappear by morning, a long, shallow cut down her leg, and a mild concussion from hitting her head on a low stone wall.

They had yet to transform back for the night; Serenity expected they were a little afraid to do so, at least in front of her.

"Serenity, shut up." Jupiter snapped, but there was no force behind the reprimand at all and it came out more tired-sounding than she'd have liked. She shifted, winced, then opened green eyes to look at her princess. "You really expected us to leave them to those things? They're basically defenceless."

"We didn't come out so well either." Venus said calmly, her blue eyes coolly regarding a painting across the room.

The auburn-haired woman snorted. "We were caught by surprise." she shifted some more and then added, "Besides, there was another one outside, which we couldn't leave to them. I don't know if they'd have been able to handle three."

Venus was silent.

Youma were an uncommon occurrence in the Silver Alliance, but by no means unheard of. Occasionally one would appear, create a little havoc before either disappearing or being taken down by one of the senshi or a troupe of soldiers. So far as they had known they were weak enough to be taken down by those without a senshi's powers. The youma were leftovers from a long ago time, when an agent of darkness had attacked the entire system with creatures far more powerful than the scattered few who made it through the barriers nowadays.

But that agent was sealed away long ago, by one of the princess's ancestors, Queen Selene of the first Silver Court. The Silver Alliance had actually been created to defeat the evil monster that had threatened all worlds. Selene and the First Court had banished the enemy completely.

Nonetheless, the events on Terra were troubling.

"They were unusually strong." Venus muttered, almost to herself. "It shouldn't even have taken one of our attacks to destroy one youma, let alone four or five."

"So call Mercury in the morning." Jupiter winced, sitting up. The waist of her white suit was stained pink and red. "Right now, I want a bath and my bed."

"What about mother?"

The two senshi looked at their princess.

"Shouldn't we tell her first?" Serenity continued, her eyes on a bump on Venus' head.

They looked at each other silently, and when Venus answered it was quietly. "We don't wish to worry her unnecessarily, Serenity." she soothed. "We could have just been unlucky and a few strong youma managed to break through into this dimension. I'll call Mercury first thing, and then we will present our findings to your mother straight away. Whether or not this is something more, she will need to know, and I'd rather have some answers when we tell her than unfounded reasoning."

This appeared to placate their charge, and the two women rose without help, gave her as much of a bow as their state would allow and left for their own rooms.

Serenity watched them go with worry staining her eyes a deeper blue. Something flickered within the crystal depths, a glowing shadow, then settled and faded back again.

"Soon, it will begin." she murmured softly, her eyes reflecting what little light was in the room, like the eyes of a cat, glowing eerily. "And then, we will know peace."

**o.O.o**

Unable to sleep, Amelia sat on her window seat, watching a blizzard rage outside. Despite Mariner being an artificial satellite, it was fully equipped with a state of the art weather system designed to mimic the patterns of Mercury. Magellan Castle had been constructed to the same sort of standards.

What few other than the senshi knew was that the physical moons weren't actually the centres of their power.

Each senshi moon had a castle named after the satellite on which it was built. This was common knowledge. But above each moon, hidden from prying eyes by powerful magics far older than anything even Amelia and her race could comprehend, were the true castles of the senshi. These ethereal structures had been created by the first White Moon Queen, Selene, as gifts to each senshi of the system for entering the Silver Alliance, magnificent constructions of crystal and light, each one unique.

Each senshi was connected to her castle by inheritance, by power, by vow and, eventually, by crystal.

While the castles upon the moons were considered their homes, accessible to those with good reason, the true castles above the satellites were only accessible to the senshi to which it belonged and those with willing and express permission. The Inner Senshi split their time between their home planets, their moon castles and their senshi castles while the Outer Senshi were almost constantly confined to satellite and crystal palace.

But none of this was what Amelia of Mercury pondered at this early hour of the morning.

Instead her thoughts were, perhaps ironically, full of Terra. Terra and her princess. Strange, for she had never given that blue and green planet much thought throughout her life, and yet suddenly here she was and unable to think of anything else.

She had only been once, that one time to fetch her princess back from somewhere that had been unknown to all of them, save for Serenity, who had known full well what she was doing. It had not been a very good experience. Even now, Amelia felt an acute embarrassment at the whole situation. That those . . . those . . . men had seen her uncharacteristic and wholly improper display was embarrassing enough, but to add in the actions of her princess as well . . .

After some more consideration, she admitted that disaster was a far more appropriate description. Jupiter was now even more convinced that the infernal machine was no good, and even Mars would eye the thing warily if she so much as had to walk near it.

Amelia had to smile though, as in an unusual attempt at making her feel better the Martian had offered to drive out whatever 'spirit' had possessed the damned thing. The others had wanted to help her do it. It made her feel a little funny and slightly warm, that her sister senshi would offer to do something so ridiculous.

Despite spending so much of their time together, the senshi weren't particularly close. They weren't cruel to each other exactly, though they didn't go out of their way to be charming either and insults weren't exactly a rarity, but neither were they particularly friendly. Now that she thought about that it seemed a little strange; Venus could be so closed off, yet she was a typically social creature much like the rest of her race, so she at least should have been more friendly than the others.

Yet it was Jupiter that had the closest relationship with the princess. Amelia supposed it was because the tall young woman had been there the longest; each of the senshi had been brought into service upon reaching the age of fourteen, and while each of them had been introduced to Serenity long before this and they had encountered each other many times at court functions and the like, there was no getting around that they had all arrived at different times. Amelia had been on the White Moon the shortest amount of time; a mere couple of years. Jupiter had, by now, been around the princess for five or six.

There were the dynamics between the senshi themselves too. Jupiter got along better with Mars, probably because they had similar beliefs, similar upbringings (both had been raised by their fathers and by palace staff) and similar cultures. Venus kind of stood off to one side by herself; Amelia wasn't all that sure who the blonde got on best with. While Amelia stood off to yet another side on her own.

As always.

A muted, rhythmic beeping began in the quiet shadows of her room.

Startled, Amelia looked around. It sounded like her communicator, but why in the universe would the other girls be calling her at this time of the night? Quietly, she made her way over to her night stand.

Amelia's room was her sanctuary, and all her chambers, from Mercury's mainland to the White Moon, were decorated in the same manner. Shades of blue and violet and white, furniture simple yet elegant. It made things so much simpler, and it made concentrating easier for her.

The small communicator was definitely beeping at her; the screen kept flashing, yet the symbol was strange, one she had never encountered before. A circle divided into quarters. Her brows furrowing in puzzlement, she picked it up and answered the odd call.

"_Ha, see it does wor- . . . oh. Sorry I think . . . I seem to have, err . . . oops."_

Her brow creased in further concentration at the young male pictured on the little screen. She knew him from somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn't quite recall where from.

"_Yes, yes you do, my lady."_

She had spoken aloud? Her brows rose in surprise.

"_I am Zoicite, one of Endymion's personal guards. We met briefly on Terra over a month ago."_ he was smiling now, amusement dancing in the green eyes and warring with sheepishness on his lips.

Ah. That explained it. That explained everything. Her eyes narrowed coolly at his image. "And why are you calling me, sir? It is the early hours of the morning here." How dare he call her when she was thinking of that dratted world; it made it seem as though the Fates themselves were conspiring against her.

A frown marred his expression. _"Is it? But it's nearly midnight here so it should be the middle of the day, right?"_

She blinked. He had made that connection too? She glanced at the clock on the wall to confirm the time. "If I were currently on the White Moon then you would most likely be correct, but I am not on the White Moon, sir. I am on Mariner. The senshi moon orbiting Mercury." she kept her tone factual, cool and disinterested.

Another frown. _"Mercury doesn't have a satellite. Neither does Venus. I believe they are the only planets in our system that don't have moons."_

Her brows rose again; he knew that? And he stated it with such certainty, as though he were reciting a trusted and true text. "They have no natural moons." she corrected carefully, struggling only slightly to keep her cool demeanour in the face of this new surprise. "Both however have artificial satellites created a long time ago for a specific purpose." Her blue eyes sought the window she had just been sitting at, then shifted back to his image.

He hummed a little at that, then realisation lit up his features. _"So you're orbiting Mercury? Can you see it from your window? Can I see?"_ he looked so excited, his features positively glowing, eyes sparkling with the emotion.

Taken aback, Amelia said the first thing that came to her mind. "Whatever for?"

"_I've always wanted to see the other planets, with my own eyes and not through a telescope. Please, just this once and I'll never bother you again." _he sounded like a little boy.

Numbly, not quite sure why she did so, she stood and wandered back over to her window and held the communicator so he could see.

Her room had a fantastic view of the planet below, despite the blizzard raging outside. Even so, she allowed her powers to slip out and calm the flurries of snow just a little so he could see clearly. The shields surrounding Mariner and Mercury were visible, and only distorted the sight a little. At this moment she had a clear view of the Khione Mountains, a vast array of snowy valleys, glaciers and cliffs.

There was a beautiful clarity to artificial atmosphere of Mercury right now.

"_It's amazing."_ she heard him breathe through the communicator; she fancied he was staring with wide eyes and open mouth (her fancy was correct). _"I've never seen anything like it!"_

"It's my home world." she said quietly. "That is the Khione mountain range; the tallest peaks on Mercury and the largest glacier are located there. And one volcano." she added as an afterthought. Why she was telling him all this she had no idea, but she was proud of the world she called home and his interest piqued something inside of her. "You don't have sights like this on your world?"

He laughed, and the sound was warm and clean. _"If you mean a view like yours, then I'm afraid to say we don't. We can't see our world from space."_ he sounded sad at the thought. _"But we have mountains and lakes and volcanoes too. I believe Nephrite lives near a huge canyon."_

"What about where you live?" she asked before she could stop herself.

There was a pause as he considered his answer. She took the time to sit on the plush lilac window seat once more and sat the communicator on a pillow. Then she waved a hand across her face, causing the pale blue visor to flash into place again. She fiddled with the communicator for a minute or two, and then she was looking at a miniature and somewhat startled hologram of Zoicite himself, sitting on the opposite side of the window seat.

"_What on Earth did you-"_

"I made a minor adjustment to my communicator." she waved the question away airily. "Now please, you were saying?"

He hesitated, and something shone within the green depths of his eyes. Then they glittered with excitement. _"This isn't exactly from my home. I mean it is, but not my real home."_ he licked his lips. _"Earth is divided into continents, and the continent I rule over primarily is called Europe. With me so far?"_

She nodded; not so different to the other planets really, except perhaps Neptune. Nobody was quite sure how that planet was structured, and in some places it was rumoured that you could swim all the way down to its core.

"_Well then,"_ he continued, _"The four Cardinal Kingdoms are North, South, East and West. The Golden Kingdom, where Endymion lives, is smack in the middle and holds a little piece of each of the other four."_ He was walking now she could tell; the hologram had disappeared briefly and the image on the screen was moving. And darker; he must have covered it up for some reason because she thought she could see his hand. _"The Golden Palace is actually located on an island we call Sicily, which is somewhere around the equator of our world. And visible from the Golden Palace is . . ."_

The hand moved away, and she was now presented with a holographic screen showing a green and fertile land, with trees and flowers and towns stretching forever. And the backdrop to the whole scene was a large mountain, capped with snow that glistened in the bright moonlight against a thousand stars.

"It's so beautiful." she whispered.

"_Isn't it? We call it Mt Etna. It's actually a very active volcano. Erupted just last year, as a matter of fact." _

The picture was so beautiful, so perfect, that it made her heart ache.

"_So what did you actually do to the device, Lady Mercury?"_

"Hmm?" the hologram shimmered and reformed into the young man she was speaking with.

"_I know i'm not just pixels on a screen any more."_ he pointed out wryly, and she realised that his own screen must look a little funny, probably presenting a distorted view of both his surroundings and what was directly in front of the screen.

"I adjusted some of the circuitry and modified the image scanner programs so that they would project as well as receive, if I wished it. It was just a bit of simple code. It is something I have been working on in my spare time and I thought I might test it out and see how it worked."

"_I see." _he was staring at something in his hand now – the communicator on his end of the connection probably. _"Lady Mercury, I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something. I had thought I was calling Lady Venus but it appears I crossed some lines of code somewhere along the way, and maybe a circuit or two as well."_

"You've been fiddling with the communicator we gave you?" the thought both intrigued and saddened her; was the old one not good enough? She had built it herself, albeit under protest.

"_No, actually. I used it as a blueprint."_ He reached behind him and then held something up; the bronze communicator she had built. _"The device I'm using right now is a prototype of my own design. Yours was an amazing little invention i'll admit, but it doesn't really suit us, and we wondered if we could make more than one."_

"What are you using as an energy source? They don't run on oxygen, Lord Zoicite."

He squirmed a little, then raised a hand, not looking at her. Within moments an intricate little snowflake appeared, perfectly symmetrical, and formed of a blue-white crystalline compound from thin air. It hovered over his hand before falling gracefully onto his palm.

"_My inheritance as a Shitennou."_ he explained awkwardly, mistaking her surprise and, dare she say it, awe for something else. _"We're still not sure what it is, precisely, but we can all channel energy into these crystals and I can create them to suit virtually any purpose." _

Amelia shook her head; she would consider this matter later. "What is the code you were using?" He did something to his own device and suddenly the rectangular holographic screen was back, reeling off a series of blue numbers and symbols. Recreating her visor she scanned the lines until something jumped out at her. "I see what you were trying to do with this. You've combined the tracking program with the communications programs. This line here for example, is reading 00010100100001, when in fact it should be 00010100110010, I believe. And this line isn't quite right either." she bit her lip in concentration. "I'm not sure what algorithm you've used exactly, but I don't think the code was fully compatible."

"_I see it. Forgive me for asking but would you mind helping me to fix it? The others aren't very good with this sort of thing and you seem to know what you're talking about."_ he smiled, and the effect was disarming to say the least. _"You don't know how pleased I am to have found an intelligent conversation at last."_

Blushing a little from pleasure, Amelia retrieved her mini computer from her sub-space pocket. "I believe it is possible." she replied with a smile. "This line here . . ."

**o.O.o**

The sound of his door slamming open first thing in the morning jerked Endymion from a troubled sleep into the harsh reality of early morning light. He floundered for a moment, tangled in sheets, before wakening a little more and realising where he was. The curtains across his window were drawn sharply open, letting in even more sunlight, and he groaned.

Who on Earth was mad enough to cause him all this hassle first thing in the morning?

"I want to know exactly who your guests were, Prince Endymion, and just what happened last night?" the voice was sharp, angry and stubborn. He recognised the drawling lilt of a Lemurian accent and this sound answered his unspoken question for him.

"Good morning to you too, Lieutenant Peridot. Do you often come into a man's private chambers like this?" he replied with a question of his own.

His own guards rushed in not long after, and he gave them a condescending look; two of the three had the grace to squirm, but Malachite just glared at the intruder.

"You're lucky I wasn't an assassin here to kill your master." Peridot turned her foul temper on them briefly, ignoring the amused expression on the Crown Prince's face and the anger in the eyes of the three Shitennou. Then she turned her attentions to the young royal. "Answers, Endymion. Now."

"I can't tell you exactly who my guests were last night." he snapped, running a hand through his hair. "For their safety." he added when she opened her mouth to argue. She was dressed plainly, he noticed, in a simple pale green tunic and black loose trousers; dressed for training even. Her long hair was pulled back in a braid.

She paused before speaking again. "Fair enough. But you'll have to give me something better than nothing. You know your sister's mind will come up with all sorts of conspiracies on its own."

This was why he both liked and loathed his sister's guards. They were reasonable where Rhea was not, and they were usually willing to work with the prince and his own guards instead of against them. Though they were loyal to a fault when it came to Rhea. And they also weren't above running a little interference now and then.

With Rhea's best interests at heart, of course.

"They're visitors from another realm, distant and largely unheard of." he told her at length, trying to get his story straight in his over-tired mind. "We met them on the border between Elysia and the Golden Kingdom a month or two ago." this was so much easier when he wasn't exactly lying. "Helios offered to escort them to the gala last night to give them a chance to experience our culture."

True enough. He ignored the almost proud smile on Zoicite's face.

He also ignored the look on Peridot's face that clearly showed she wasn't buying it.

"And the creatures?"

Now he frowned. "I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like them before last night." he glanced at his guards on the chance that they may have, but each shook their head in a negative. Well, Zoicite did, and Nephrite gave a half shrug; Malachite simply looked thoughtful, but Endymion could tell he was as puzzled as the rest of them were.

"What about your three guests? Do they know what those things were?" her voice held a note of accusation, and though Endymion, and the other three, bristled at hearing it, they couldn't really blame her.

"I don't know, it's possible." he said. He glanced at the others, more specifically at Zoicite. Now that he thought about it, the younger man seemed unusually tired. "Can you get in touch and ask them?"

"I can, Endymion. But it would probably be best if I wait until later. Time differences, and all that." he explained as they all turned questioning gazes to him. Even Peridot had a strange look on her face.

"Lieutenant," at Endymion's voice she turned from her study of the youngest Shitennou to face the crown prince once more, "When would be a good time to inform you of their answer?"

The answer that sprang to her mind first was _immediately_, but she knew it was not likely to be possible. "What time would you be able to speak with them?" she asked instead, turning back to Zoicite and chewing the inside of her cheek.

Stifling a yawn – he had stayed up far later than he had anticipated due to his surprisingly animated discussion with the Lady Mercury – he pulled the prototype communicator out of his pocket. His new design was more masculine than the original had been; instead of the small rectangular shape that resembled Lady Mercury's pocket computer, it was now smaller and circular with a lid, able to pass for a pocket watch or a cloak clasp. He was toying with the idea of adding straps to it to allow it to be worn around the wrist or tied to a belt.

Lady Mercury had given him much to think about, over the course of a few hours. The one thing that kept returning to his sleep-deprived mind however – and he blamed the lack of sleep for this – was the question of her name. She had never once given it, and he knew from the Moon Princess that what he called her for the moment was merely a court title. While it was not a disrespectful title to call her by, and she did not strike him as a typically informal creature, he wondered how long it would be until he earned the knowledge of her name.

Blinking slightly to dispel the urge to close his eyes, he glanced at the screen, then closed the lid and put the 'watch' away, ignoring the curious gazes of the other two Shitennou. "About four hours."

Nodding, Peridot turned back to Endymion, thinking of her own schedule. "I will not be available until late evening." she frowned.

"Then I shall slip a note beneath your door." Zoicite smirked.

It had been entirely too long since he put particular skills to use; he didn't want them to become rusty, after all.


End file.
